The Path We Once Walked
by SleepyWriter66
Summary: Shikamaru, Naruto and Gaara are the last remaining Shinobi fighting against Madara Uchiha. All seems lost, but between a shadow genius, an ex-Rokudaime and a former Jinchuuriki, they might just be able to start the game all over again. TimeTravel. Review!
1. Chapter 1

The Path We Once Walked

By SleepyFox48

Summary: Shikamaru, Naruto and Gaara are the last remaining Shinobi fighting against the rule of Madara Uchiha. All seems lost, but between a shadow genius, an ex-Rokudaime and a former Jinchuuriki, they might just be able to start the game all over again.

Warning: This story will contain yaoi (ShikaNaru) and if it really bothers you so much

Don't read the story

Ignore it

This is my first story so don't be too hard on me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does… But if I did own it, that would be really cool. I own all OC mentioned the story though! Enjoy ^_^v

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><p>Chapter One: Their Last Move<p>

Shikamaru knew it was too troublesome to let his mind wander, but it was times like these you really couldn't help it. He remembered a long time ago, although his heard a whisper in his voice saying that it was _that_ long ago, he was in his first year in the Academy. His Chunin teacher had gone on an over- night mission and hadn't come back yet. Needless to say, the Sandaime had dropped an unfortunate Chunin into the class to fill in for him. Shikamaru thought that the sub had either been really stupid or didn't care because he had no problem in explaining the situation, even if he was somewhat vague about it. It was a complete drag, since the Shinobi had no idea what to do with them, and the Academy training fields were already taken by the older Pre-Genin. He decided to tell the class a story. Shikamaru couldn't recall what exactly the story was about considering he was asleep most the class, but the Chunin's last words sprung to the Genius's mind.

"…People don't realize that your first kill as a Shinobi doesn't hurt as much as your twentieth or fiftieth. The first time it hurts because you just took a life, and your safe little childhood has really started to end, but by the twentieth or the fiftieth, the pain is twice as hard to handle because its not that you took a life that bothers you. It's that it doesn't bother you so much anymore. Almost like it happens just as much as eating a meal, or buying new equipment. That's when you start to _see_ in red…"

Snapping out of his thoughts, he shifted his gaze back to the landscape before him. The sky was dark and cloudy, and it looked as if it was going to rain any minute, but it hadn't rained in quite some time. Shikamaru wasn't one for being delusional and naïve. He knew the clouds were from the smoke and ashes that plagued the air since Madara had brought down Konoha. The land was no different, either. A barren wasteland. Everything was dead, lifeless and completely covered in red. Shikamaru never thought he'd have to take the Chunin's words literally instead of a figure of speech when you get upset or mad. " I guess Ino was right when she said blood was impossible to wash out…" The shadow genius's heartstrings pulled harshly as he thought about his friends and family. They were all dead, having fought and dies for the people they loved. He had not cried for any of them. For as each friend fell, there were still others that needed support. As a leader, he had to stay strong. It was a cruel thought that he never got to shed tears for his friends and comrades, but then again, neither had Naruto and Gaara. They both held strong too, and even in private Naruto refused to cry, often joking that he didn't want to waste the remaining fluids in his body. And they were all he had left.

Naruto… his Naruto. He'd never thought in his wildest dreams that Naruto would become his life force. He knew for a fact that he had dearly cared for Ino, but when all of Shikamaru's friends started to die, he couldn't help but develop a strong bond between the person constantly by his side. If there still were a Konoha, this kind of relationship would be looked down on by society, but strangely enough, it wasn't exactly an uncommon thing among Shinobi. You'd think the civilians and counsel would have accepted the strange quirks of active shinobi. And even _if_ he ever got to see Ino again, he didn't think that he would feel the same. He had changed. And he knew that he would never be able to change back. The same could be said about Naruto. But Naruto was everything now. His hair was the sun which had not shined in years, his eyes that sparkled a brilliant blue was the sky that was hidden away and his voice, although slightly hoarse, still reminded Shikamaru of a babbling brook. The shorter male was his world in a human form, but even that was starting to fade. He only hoped that Gaara, Naruto and himself would be able to pull through…

Getting up from his uncomfortable crouch, Shikamaru stretched his limbs out, popping all the joints in his back. Rubbing his eyes, the twenty two year old pulled a loose strand of graying hair back behind his ear and yawned. Needless to say, none of them were aging that well.

"What a drag. You'd think with no one around it'd be peaceful…" It was a pathetic try at humor and if anything, it made Shikamaru more irritated. Trying to shake off the deep frown that now marred his face, the Shadow genius murmured a quick "Shadokuroru Gijutsu" (Shadow Crawl Technique) and melted in to the shadows, speeding back to base, and where, hopefully, Naruto and Gaara were making progress.

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><p>Naruto deep down knew they never had a good chance against Madara Uchiha. They still didn't. After the whole Pain disaster, Madara took advantage of Konoha's weakened state. What made it even worse was that Sasuke (that bastard) had no qualms about joining in and avenging is "clan and brother"… again. You'd think the bastard would get a clue and stop being so selfish. The first hit was devastating, and even when Sand teamed up with the Leaf, there was only so long two Hidden Villages could last. With Tsunade in a coma, and Danzou assassinated by Sasuke at the Kage Summit, Naruto was finally chosen as Rokudaime. But he wished he could've succeeded under better terms. In the end, although they had put up a fantastic fight, the Leaf and Sand fell under Madara's power. The loss was damaging. In a way, all three of them numbed their feeling for the dead and refused to think about their fallen comrades. You could almost even say that Shikamaru, Gaara and himself had gone slightly crazy. They smiled yet there really was little to smile about, the laughed, even when they felt like crying. It was all a jumble of feelings that only they understood in each other.<p>

Most people would have thought that they had lost, but Naruto was too smart for that kind of thinking. And Shikamaru, the man he most dearly cherished, had said that they hadn't lost. Not until Gaara, Naruto and himself were dead. And Naruto held on to that belief. Shifting uneasily in the wooden chair, Naruto continued to review the seal markings on the table.

"Are you alright Naruto?' Gaara questioned.

Startled at the break in silence, Naruto looked up in surprise, "Yeah, just hoping that Shikamaru comes back soon… and that we figure out this whole mess! Kyuubi said that for time travel to be possible we need to implement all the base elements, a stable seal, a wholly amount of chakra, and of course Madara's Sharingan technigue on Space Manipulation. We've got the elements and chakra covered; you with earth, Shika with Fire, me with Wind, Water and Lightning and our fur ball with the chakra wave. The seal is pretty much top notch, but Madara wont fall for just any trap! So I…"

"Naruto. Calm. Down. I know all this. You forget that Uchihas are overconfident fools. And as much as Madara is smart, he has also assumed that we have lost hope. And even _if _ he suspected _something_, now is not the time to start doubting yourself and our abilities. Naruto, you are the brother I will always cherish and I care for our bond deeply, so I need you to keep holding on. Also have faith in the strategy your lover boy has planned."

Deaths and battle had changed Naruto. If any one of their friends would see him now they would hardly recognize him. Heck, all three of them had changed drastically. Naruto had developed a fear of jumping into things without a plan, which was ironic since he used to be Konoha's Number One loudest, unpredictable, hyperactive knuckle headed ninja as once said by Kakashi. Shikamaru and Gaara had changed in a similar fashion. Shikamaru no longer slept, opting to keep watch and had developed a strong sense of paranoia, while Gaara would not walk into a battle without making sure that his two 'brothers' were completely fine. It was almost as if each of them had given a piece of themselves to each other as they grew closer.

"Thanks Gaara. I really needed that. You're right. I don't know what came over me. We can do this… right?"

Gaara blinked owlishly at Naruto's strange shift in mood before turning his attention elsewhere. "Shikas approaching from the West Wall this time…"

Naruto blinked and slowly a foxy grin grew on this weary face. He positioned himself right in front of the wall like countless times before, and moved his small and lithe body in the right angle as he waited.

"Naruto, I'm ba…" Shikamaru never got to finish as Naruto tackled him in a hug and snuck in a warm but slightly chapped kiss. "Welcome back!"

After they parted, Naruto led Shikamaru towards the table where Gaara sat. Looking up from the spread out scrolls, Gaara gave a warm smile towards Shikamaru.

"Anything new out there?" Gaara asked.

"Nope, it's all the same, but I set up some chakra alarms just in case Madara feels like playing cat and mouse with us anytime soon. How's the seal? I've already got our strategy figured out and its pretty much as perfect as perfect comes."

Snorting as the last comment Gaara looked back down at the scrolls "It's doing fine. It was kind of difficult rearranging Pain's chakra absorption technique, but Naruto and I have been able to figure out how to structure the new Jutsu to our needs."

It seemed as if they had all the time in the world do this. Everyone they cared for was dead and there was no one else to protect but themselves. But in truth, they were running out of time. While it is true that the three remaining Shinobi had learned an unbelievably vast amount of Jutsus, fighting styles, and techniques that should have put them on par with Madara, they weren't on equal playing fields. They hadn't eaten in quite some time and they barely got any rest, making their bodies feverish often more times then not. Naruto, out of the three was the strongest. You could say he was the sword. He had improved tremendously and showed a great amount of precision after deciding that his strange lack of style was not getting him anywhere and decided to actually learn a variety of fighting styles. Gaara was the shield. Protective and quick, he could get to the other two quick enough to impress a ray of sun traveling to Earth. Shikamaru was the brain. When Asuma said that his IQ was well over 200 and that he had the mind of a general he wasn't kidding. In fact, Shikamaru knew the 'game' Asuma set up for him so long ago was an IQ test. Just to settle his teacher's curiosity he had done it without question, but he had held back, just to keep the element of surprise.

"I think its time to hit the hay. We need to rest… Tomorrow we will execute our plan and we need to be at our best… well as best a couple of starved Shinobi can get anyway." Shikamaru stated.

Nodding their heads in agreement, Gaara and Naruto silently agreed with Shikamaru. Gaara moved to his room to meditate and sleep while Shikamaru walked to the room he shared with Naruto. Back when the war was at its peak, the base they were currently residing in was a secret headquarters for the leading Kage, Anbu and Jounin. It was underground and could only be accessed by the Shinobi who knew the barrier's seal combination. Closing the door quickly to their room, Shikamaru pushed Naruto against the wall and gave him a bruising kiss. Naruto, feeling the worry and desperation in his lover's movements, pressed himself against Shikamaru and kissed back just as passionately.

"It will all be fine Shika. I'm here and we can do this."

If we fail, I don't want you dieing without me. And if you did, then I'm telling you right now that I will not feel any regret in taking my life then and there."

Hearing the seriousness laced in Shikamaru's voice, Naruto pulled him into a soft hug, and led them to their small cot. Plopping both of them down onto it, Naruto took Shikamaru's arms, and wrapped them around his small waist.

"We won't fail. Just think of it this way… have you ever lost at Shogi?"

"No."

"Then this is a game of Shogi and tomorrow you have to make your last move. And Gaara and I will be there right beside you. Believe it."

Chuckling at Naruto's old catch phrase, one he hadn't used in quite a long time, Shikamaru kissed Naruto one last time before drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

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><p>"Come out, come out where ever you are! You can't hide forever!"<p>

Naruto pressed his back against the large bolder between him and Madara. Not but an hour ago, Gaara, Shikamaru and Naruto had begun their plan. Naruto had been having an intense battle with Madara, when Gaara had given the ten-minute signal. In the next ten minutes, if he could get Madara to use his Sharingan Space Manipulation technique, then everything else would fall into line.

Going through the necessary hand seals, Naruto flashed through the movements and jumped from behind the boulder "Ninja āto! Kaze burēdo!" (Ninja Art! Wind Blades!)

Flipping back in surprise, Madara barely evaded the attack. Grinning madly he backed up quickly "Katon Karyuu Endan!" (Fire Dragon Flame Blast!)

Naruto feeling the scorching heat approaching him saw the opening from under the flame dragon speeding towards him and took a chance. "Please Kakashi, if you're watching me from wherever you are lend me your strength! Chidori!" (The Thousand Birds) Pushing himself from his previously crouched position, Naruto zoomed under the flames towards Madara, lightning chirping wildly. Not having enough time to completely get out of the way, Madara was punched in the side of the stomach.

"You may have landed a hit on me, but you'll never be able to kill me! I am Uchiha Madara and…!"

"And that's game, set and match!" Shikamaru yelled.

With a look of astonishment, Madara was wrapped in a swirl of sand and shadows. Grinning again he loudly exclaimed "As if you could hold me. I'll see you three again!" Slowly Madara started to disappear.

"Now we have you right where we want you!" Naruto yelled.

Quickly ripping off their shirts, an elaborate design of seals were drawn on the bodies. Without any hesitation Shikamaru, Naruto and Gaara yelled their designated Jutsu.

"Jutsu kōdo kyūshū-hō!" (Jutsu Code Absorption Technique)-Shikamaru

"Enerugī kyōkyū gijutsu!" (Energy Feeding Technique)- Naruto

"Toripuru yūgō gijutsu!" (Triple fusion Technique)- Gaara

"No what's happening!" Madara yelled in panic and fear. An emotion he had not felt in decades.

As the seals on their body started to glow and the chakra between them started to circulate, they yelled together and flashed through the necessary hand signs with a determination and skill that would impress a God. Adding in a surge of all five elements, and an extra wave of Kyuubi's chakra they roared

"**Shizen parusu! Jikan sōsa-hō! (Nature Pulse! Time Manipulation Technique!)**

The light was blinding and the pain was unbearable but in a matter of seconds Madara was laying unconscious on an empty battlefield as Naruto, Shikamaru, and Gaara were pulled into the glowing chakra and back where it all began. **Game Start.**

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><p>Chapter Two: Game Start-The Chunin Exams<p>

Big thanks to Google Translator, since I do not know Japanese, and also because I didn't want to look up a specific Jutsu from the Naruto archives that was similar to the ideal technique I wanted to display.

I'll update again after I get a good chunk of reviews or five days pass… Cause it takes me a day or two to write it, and a day or two to type and edit it so you understand what I'm saying. Thanks for reading!

Please Review!


	2. Chapter 2

Game Start: - The Chunin Exams

Yaya so I finally finished Chapter Two! I've made it a goal of mine to get around 3,000 words in for every chapter, so that the story will hit at least 20,000 words by the time I'm finished with it. So anyway…

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does… But if I did own it, that would be really cool. I own all OC mentioned the story though! Enjoy ^_^v

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><p>It was dark. Like really dark; the type of dark when you wonder if your eyes are actually closed. Shikamaru wasn't afraid of the dark per say; he pretty much was a shadow, but it didn't mean he had to deal. Ignoring his protesting muscles, he shakily pushed himself of the floor and tried to sense his surroundings. A deep, booming voice filled the space.<p>

"Shikamaru Nara, Kage master! I hope you realize that you and your comrades have committed a felony against us!"

Willing himself to calm down he quietly muttered under his breath. Then in a louder voice he questioned "Us?"

Suddenly the area brightened and Shikamaru noticed he was standing in the middle of a courtroom. The floors were a golden brown that looked like the tree it came from was made of gold. The ceiling was high up and had intricate patterns carved into it. It was something Shikamaru had never seen before. Standing in front of him were three large figures hidden behind transparent slide doors (the only thing Shikamaru could recognize out of all the other furniture and ornaments placed in the room)

"Us Gods, of course! We don't really like beating around the bush so…"

Clicking their fingers, a black void appeared above him, and Naruto, along with Gaara, fell from it. Landing on their feet unsteadily, Naruto and Gaara brushed themselves off and quickly stood shoulder to shoulder next to Shikamaru.

"Where are we? Did we do it? Are we even _alive?_" Naruto started to question.

"Silence yourself, Kitsune! Yes, you are very much alive. In fact, your little stunt with Madara Uchiha worked. We just decided to interrupt the process. Your souls are about to enter your past bodies. We won't lie to you, at this rate you three are going to die."

Gaara's eyes widened as you breathily spoke, "Die? What are you talking about? Are you threatening us?"

A more feminine voice spoke out, a stern but soothing manner in her speech. "No, Desert Wanderer. We most definitely are not. Let me explain. As your souls take over your past bodies, your chakra and some of your physical attributes will meld into that past form. It will literally look as if you are shape shifting, but your past bodies will not be able to handle the stress. Your bones and muscle would probably increase so rapidly that your skin would break or your body would not be able to produce enough blood to support the change quick enough."

"So what you're saying is that for us to survive, we need your help." Naruto said, squaring his shoulders and standing tall.

"Very good, boy! Very sharp! Yes you do!"

"So what's the catch?" Gaara suspiciously voiced.

"Another sharp one… I dare say these humans are quite worthy. All you have to do is wear our symbol. We will slow down the growth process as much as possible, but it won't be an easy transition. When you first take over the body, the chakra in that body will completely disappear and be replaced with your own, but since you have vast amounts of chakra compared to what you had before, we will put chakra bubbles in your body until you grow strong enough to contain it all. This allows you to call on chakra only when you want."

"That's it? Why would you just let a couple of humans _pass_ by? What are your real intentions may I ask… Honorable Gods?" Shikamaru asked. (Adding in the title so he wouldn't sound too disrespectful)

"The symbols will be so that people will know that you have been blessed by us; more worshippers and whatnot. Also you can say, for our entertainment. We haven't seen anything impressive or interesting for a while. Plus Madara Uchiha has been grating at our nerves. We don't appreciate humans that mess with our toys."

The speech was somewhat disturbing, but there really want anything else they could do. Standing up confidently, even for his short frame, Naruto glanced at Gaara and Shikamaru. Nodding their heads in agreement they took a chance.

"We except, Honorable Gods!"

"Excellent! Well I think you've wasted enough time… Good luck!"

With a clap of their hands, tendrils of chakra started to swirl around the three shinobi. The chakra seeped into their bodies. The pain was excruciating. None of them had ever felt so much pain in their entire lives. It was like they were reliving every wound they had ever gotten in a single moment. And through the haze, they heard the sound of a whip, and everything went black.

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><p>Naruto was floating in a vast amount of darkness, when suddenly he felt like he was being squeezed into a tube. In an instant, his ears were filled with the sound of cheers and yells of hundreds and people, and he felt his limbs moving without him. Finally opening his eyes, he was inches from Neji Hyuuga. Unable to stop himself, he collided with Neji, the Kyuubi's chakra and Neji's rotation creating a gigantic explosion. At that moment he felt all his old body's chakra disappear, and then replaced with his own. Gaining control of his old body, he took advantage of the dust cloud around him. He spiraled into the ground and tunneled his way to where Neji was lying.<p>

"Wow… I never expected to appear right in the middle of the heat of battle." Discarding his bulky and way to warm jacket (seriously how did he not overheat in that) he waited a minute until he felt Neji start to stir. Opting to change it up a bit, he rushed to the surface, his arm breaking into open air.

"**Chikyū hatsubai! Daburu jisatsu dantō-hō!" (Earth Release! Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!)**

Locking onto Neji's bandaged ankle, Naruto dragged him under until only his head was above ground. Fully aware that even though Neji was pretty battered up, he would be able to get out of the trap, Naruto zoomed to the other side of the arena and popped out of the ground and behind a tree. Peeking from behind the foliage, what he saw made his heart burst. The sky… was blue again. And everyone was still alive and kicking. His throat started to constrict, and he felt tears prick his eyes, but before he got carried away, he controlled his emotions and analyzed the situation. The crowd was in an uproar, and Naruto realized, as he skimmed over their faces, how much he missed being hokage for more then one person. (Shikamaru) Trying to find Shikamaru, Naruto heard dirt moving under his feet. Looking down, letters started to form.

_Can't talk now. End the fight quickly and get yourself out of the arena immediately. _

_-Gaara_

As soon as the message came, it went, the sand falling flat onto the ground. His old body was really slow and it was going to be hard to adjust to the short height, but if he really concentrated, he was positive he would be able to pull threw. Nodding his head, Naruto came from behind the tree, and saw Neji pull himself from the ground. In a flash, Naruto appeared right in front of him and hit some of Neji's muscles and chakra points, paralyzing him. He almost tripped over his own feet, but caught himself before he tumbled over and on top of a now motionless Hyuuga. It was a technique that Sakura and Hinata figured out when they had combined their knowledge of the body and the energy flowing threw it. It should keep Neji still for about ten minutes. The crowd was completely silent.

"Kid… what ya do to him?" Genma asked, as he felt Neji's pulse.

"Nothing. He'll come back around in a few minutes."

Seeing Neji's eyes shift to him Naruto kicked himself mentally and added in,

"I failed the graduation exam three times, you know. I can make my own destiny, even if it means defying fate. And I believe you can do it, too. So don't come running to me about these things."

Wearily Genma watched Naruto. The aura around was different. It was calm and even. Almost unreadable… like an ANBU's. He stored that last bit of information for later.

"Winner is Naruto Uzumaki!" Genma shouted, senbon shifting to the other side of his mouth. The message finally sinking in, the crowd started cheering or protesting in disbelief. Naruto was extremely happy and all, but the dizzy spells he was starting to sport were killing the mood. Waving at the crowd quickly, unable to muster up a smile, he swaggered out of the arena. There waiting in the shadows at the entrance was Gaara.

"There's a sand clone up in the waiting area. But we've got a problem, Naruto. Apparently none of us are appearing at the same time."

Naruto froze, "What do you mean at the same time?"

"I connected to my body when I was fighting a Sound Ninja a few nights ago. When I tried to approach you before the match, you freaked out and started yelling at me."

Naruto winced and then things started clicking. "I guess we appear when the body is expelling chakra. That means that Shikamaru will come around during this next fight."

Gaara solemnly nodded. He walked Naruto over to an empty bathroom, to get him cleaned up. Gaara, knowing that Naruto would be listening while he cleaned the dirt off himself, threw him a pair of blacks pants. "The shirt can stay, but the pants have to go. We've got fifteen minutes until Shikamaru's and my sister's fight, and that lasted around an hour."

Finally pulling on the pants, and trashing the orange ones, he pumped some of Kyuubi's chakra through his body to heal the wounds, and turned around. "And the invasion? We've got an hour until Sasuke comes and the invasion starts…"

Gaara smirked and leaned against the wall in front of Naruto, "The plan is to get rid of the Sound Four while the next fight is commencing and then somehow alert the stadium of Orochimaru's presence. It didn't want to get rid of too many Sound or Sand Ninja because Orochimaru, Kabuto or the Sound Four would have noticed."

Naruto thought it over and for the most part he agreed, but something wasn't right, "And the old man Sandiame? He was supposed to die, and as much as I hate to admit it, Konoha needs Tsunade more then him."

Gaara glared at the ground in thought. "Well we can always tell him that's he's too old for the job once this is over. Isn't Jiraiya still around. He'll back you up."

"I guess that'll work." Naruto said as he turned his ears to the Stadium. "Huh, I guess the match has started. Well, its time to get crazy! But first, I need to send my own clone up there…"

Naruto and Gaara disappeared in a swirl of smoke as they headed towards their targets.

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><p>"Tell hell with it, I give up!" yelled Shikamaru. And while those words were not the kind he usually woke up to, Shikamaru could care less. Letting his body go on autopilot he explained his reasoning and let the audience go into a hissy fit. Once again, he could care less. He smelled the air, fresh and green. The clouds and sky made his heart throb. When was the last time he even saw blue and white above him.<p>

"If this is a dream, then I'd never want to wake up." Shikamaru muttered.

"What are you talking about? You just forfeited a match!"

Looking to his left, he saw a young, orange wearing ninja. Checking the energy, he confirmed it as a Shadow Clone. Walking over to the still yelling Naruto clone, he touched its shoulder, and sent a wave of chakra threw it to notify Naruto that he was here. The Clone went still for half a millisecond before slightly nodding. It continued to yell after that. Looking up, Gaara had a clone there, too. "Man, I guess I'll just wait until they come back from wherever they are…" Shikamaru mentally explained. He knew that Gaara and Naruto were off kicking ass and taking names, but he didn't know if him messing around with Kabuto, Orochimaru or Sasuke's fight would make it harder on them. Shikamaru took another look at the Shadow Clone. He hoped Naruto wouldn't take so long, because Shikamaru had forgotten how annoying and loud Naruto was like before he left on the three year training trip with Jiraiya. After a few more minutes, the stadium went silent as a swirl of leaves appeared, and both Kakashi and Sasuke stood in the middle of it. The people finally woke up from their daze, and started to loudly cheer. He could even hear Ino and Sakura yelling in the crowd. Women… Finally drawing his eyes back to the duo, Shikamaru had to almost look away. Kakashi had been the last person of their friends to die, and it definitely was a sharp blow to all of them, especially Naruto. To Naruto, Kakashi was like a father to him, and since he was his father's pupil, it made it all the worse to say goodbye.

" Huh, so you decided to show up after all! I was betting that you wouldn't come cause sooner or later you'd have to face me!" the Naruto Clone yelled.

"So what about you? Did you win?" Sasuke scoffed.

"You…" Suddenly the Naruto Clone froze stalk still before dispelling. Looking up into the waiting area, Gaara's clone turned to a pile of sand. Shikamaru shook his head at the clumsy move but shook it off. Looks like he'd have to shake things up after all.

"What just happened?" Sakura questioned as everyone curiously looked down at the shocked Ninja in the ring.

"I don't know. Why would Naruto replace himself with a clone?" Ino asked.

Rock Lee, who had us appeared next to them looked slightly worried. "It seems that Gaara of the Sand is no longer present either."

The crowd started whispering at this new turn of events. Shikamaru sighed as he massaged his shoulder. "Show time." He whispered as he faced Sasuke.

"I'm sorry to break it to ya Sasuke, but Naruto and Gaara are currently busy and won't have the energy to occupy your time."

A shocked silence ran through the crowd. Shikamaru looked absolutely pissed off for some reason, and the mysterious disappearance of the Kyuubi Brat and the Sand monster was a little more then just suspicious.

"…You don't think they're fighting each other right now…"

"Nah, I bet the Sand Ninja killed him…"

"What's going to happen to the match right now."

Sasuke bristled at the Shadow boy's last comment. "What do you mean? I…"

"Look. If it bothers you so much then don't worry. I'll fight you myself. It'll be a nice warm up…"

"He what!" A shocked man in the crowd yelled.

Genma looked at Shikamaru curiously. "I thought you said that you spent all your chakra?"

"I lied…"This statement sent the entire stadium into an uproar. Asuma and Kurenai were shocked out of their minds. What was going on! Shikamaru would never willingly put himself up to a fight, especially one in front of hundreds of people.

"Look. If you think you can beat me so easily fine. This will just be a warm up for you, but otherwise, I'm just keeping it real, and letting the crowd have what they want. A fight."

Looking at the proctor, they waited for his decision. Genma looked up at the Hokage and Raidou, who were currently whispering to each other. Their heads snapped to the Kazekage as he added in a few words. Shikamaru knew that that was actually Orochimaru, but he didn't know how the snake bastard would react. A few words were exchanged and Raidou appeared next to Genma and whispered in his ear. Nodding his head Genma turned to Shikamaru, Sasuke and Kakashi. Chewing on his senbon, Genma sighed and shifted slightly to face the crowd.

"The fight between Shikamaru Nara and Sasuke Uchiha, will…"

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><p>Chapter Three: Working With What We've Got<p>

Big thanks to Google Translator again! Also I wanted to know if it would upset a lot of people if I killed Shikamaru or put him in a coma. I can work around it, but I have an idea that will go with it. If I do kill him, I'll bring him back to life, but it'll be something like a Yusuke Urameshi situation, if you know what I'm talking about. If you don't look it up.

Thanks for reading!

Please Review!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Working With What We've Got

Okay so I kinda messed up the story in the last chapter, but in all my angst, I went from regular, over used plot, so thumbs up. It's funny because I was thinking that I was going to have a hard time fixing it because, I like keeping things to canon as much as possible.

I also noticed that the emotion in my story is as expressive as Sasuke. So this chapter I'm going to add a little more blood, sweat, and probably tears. Oh and I'm going to up the rating to teen because I'm going to add more vivid fight scenes and… other things. -_^

Lol I feel so stupid! I thought that only a few people were reading my story from the alerts I was getting, and that people generally weren't interested, but I almost banged my head on the wall when I discovered the Story Traffic tab. My mouth fell open and I was like "Damn…" It just goes with my favorite saying… 'Don't assume cause it makes an ass out of u and me'.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does… But if I did own it, that would be really cool. I own all OC mentioned in the story though! Enjoy ^_^v

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><p>Looking at the proctor, they waited for his decision. Genma looked up at the Hokage and Raidou, who were currently whispering to each other. Their heads snapped to the Kazekage as he added in a few words. Shikamaru knew that that was actually Orochimaru, but he didn't know how the snake bastard would react. A few words were exchanged and Raidou appeared next to Genma and whispered in his ear. Nodding his head Genma turned to Shikamaru, Sasuke and Kakashi. Chewing on his senbon, Genma sighed and shifted slightly to face the crowd.<p>

"The fight between Shikamaru Nara and Sasuke will not commence. Instead, we will wait until Gaara of the Sand returns, but he will be disqualified if he doesn't make it back to the ring in ten minutes." The crowd was a little more then agitated. Twice the match was postponed by Sasuke's absence and then once again because of Gaara. The feudal lords wore angry faces, but none compared to that of the Kazekage (Orochimaru) and the Sand/Sound Ninja standing ready for the invasion.

Sasuke smirked at Shikamaru, obviously smug about the turn out.

"Don't worry Shikamaru, once I become a Chunin, you can fight me as much as you want, along with the idiot."

Shikamaru only turned his head away, brought his hands together in a meditation pose and closed his eyes. The clock was ticking and Shikamaru was quickly accessing the next moves to take. If he wasn't a genius, he would be sweating bullets right about now.

"We've got Kabuto, Orochimaru, and the Sound Four to get rid of before the Invasion ends. As for as we're all concerned, they're all just a thorn in our side compared to Madara. Plus it would help if Sasuke wasn't on the opposing side this time." Shikamaru thought, but was brought out of his planning by a shadow looming over him. Looking up, he stared at the curious, but otherwise emotionless face of Kakashi.

"Are you all right, Shikamaru? You aren't acting yourself, and you look a little pale." True to Kakashi's word, Shikamaru hadn't noticed the amount of stress his body was going threw. Naruto and Gaara were/are current demon vessels, so they were used to copious amounts of 'foreign' energy. But Shikamaru's chakra was technically foreign to his old body. He needed to use up a lot of the chakra before his body cells start to break down. Grimacing at the throbbing that his body was starting to experience he weakly nodded to Kakashi before looking up at the sky.

"Please Naruto, hurry up, or I'll have to start fighting by myself."

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><p>"…What do you mean you forgot?" Naruto yelled as he ran from treetop to treetop, while trying to heal the cut on his left shoulder.<p>

"Well excuse me _Hokage-sama_, but may I remind you that I got back only a few hours before you did. And I don't exactly keep track of every enemy's battle plans for eight years!" Gaara shot back, as he rubbed away the blood dripping into his eyes.

Naruto and Gaara had rushed out of the village to find the Sound Four, but instead came across a bunch of Sand Ninja setting up a summoning sight. Still not used to the lack of muscle and agility in their current bodies, it took close to an hour to defeat the seven shinobi. Apparently, both of them had forgotten that the Sound Four were still at the stadium, a mistake that could cost them a lot if they didn't get back to the arena on time. On the up side, Naruto and Gaara were able to stop the summoning from happening, and got rid of seven ninja, but there were still over fifty other enemy ninja populating Konoha. Finally seeing the village's high standing walls, Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"Gaara! I want you to break into the nearest weapon's shop and grab two Shadow Katanas for Shikamaru (there actually is such a thing look it up) and whatever else you think we'll need. We'll be fighting two resurrected Hokages and a Sannin after all. Also get your hands on _that_ scroll! I'll catch up to you before you get to the stadium! I need to take care of a few things!" Trying to shake of the shocked expression Gaara displayed before turning around, Naruto sprinted towards the academy training grounds. He zoomed over fences and trees as he quickened his pace, ignoring the burning feeling in his lungs. Seeing the Academy's fence gate Naruto took one more gigantic leap and vaulted over it, landing behind Iruka; who was currently ordering the pre genin to jog laps. Feeling the chakra around him, Iruka pulled out a kunai and swiveled around, but dropped his hand in shock when he saw Naruto.

"Naruto! What happened to you!" Dragging him behind a tree to that the students wouldn't see him he made sure that none of them had seen him, and then turned back to Naruto. He was covered head to toe in blood. It was caked in his hair along with dirt and sweat. It was a sight that Iruka thought he wouldn't see on Naruto for another ten years at least. Getting frazzled, Iruka was about to check for wounds, when Naruto stopped him.

"Look Iruka. I don't have a lot of time and I trust you the most with this. I need you to inform as many Ninja of an invasion that is about to occur, and get as many people evacuated. I trust you above anyone else to do this."

Getting a quick but stunned nod from Iruka, he jumped out of the area and towards the chunin exam stadium. While collecting the running students, who were only on their third lap, Iruka herded them inside so he could inform the teachers, and surrounding ninja (maybe even Ibiki if he could find him) about the upcoming battle. Looking back at the yellow blew racing off, Iruka couldn't help thinking about how mature and different Naruto seemed. He kind of reminded him of the Yondaime.

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><p>Back with Naruto, he finally saw a blob of red appear from a cluster of buildings, and whistled loudly so that Gaara could join in beside him. Naruto went threw his clone's memories and smiled.<p>

"Gaara! Shikamaru is already back, and he's waiting at the stadium! In a minute or so, the invasion sirens are going to go off, and a little bit before we enter the stadium I want you to set of a flare to warn Shikamaru. I'm a hundred percent sure he already knows what's going to unfold the next few hours."

As they saw the dome like stadium standing over them, the alarms blared to life, and Gaara set the flare off. It soared into the sky and then made a booming sound as it exploded. Running up the tall stadium walls, they jumped into the arena, and landed only a few yards from Shikamaru. All the ninja in the surrounding radius were already pulling out hidden weapons and blocking attacks from the enemy. It seemed Kabuto hadn't failed in activating the Temple of Nirvana Jutsu so the civilians and some of the weaker ninja were fast asleep. Naruto was pumping with so much adrenaline the he completely missed Sasuke and Kakashi, who were standing a few yards away. They both wore identical shocked expressions at seeing Naruto appear with Gaara, and both completely covered in blood.

"Don't just stand there! Start fighting! There's enemy ninja everywhere! We need as many as possible near the north wall of Konoha!" yelled Genma at Kakashi and Sasuke, which was kind of hard since he was fighting Baki, too.

Not wasting any time, Gaara threw the swords towards Shikamaru, which he caught with great precision, and all three disappeared. Another boom resounded, as Orochimaru ambushed the Hokage. The ANBU sped to the sandaime as fast as possible, but he was already in a force field by the Sound Four and at Kunai point.

"Hokage-sama!"

Hearing a grown to their left, they snapped their heads in that direction to see… the Hokage?

"Thanks boys… it's been a while since someone has called be that."

The 'Hokage' pinned by Orochimaru was covered in a cloud of smoke and then a yellow blur rushed to the other side of the roof, joined by two other ninja. Orochimaru stared at the three for a moment, sighed in annoyance, and turned to order his ninja to let down the barrier.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you," Shikamaru drawled, "because we have something you want. And we are willing to make a deal with you."

The Sandaime, who was being helped up by the ANBU snapped his head up in horror. "You fools! You don't know what you're getting into!"

Not even glancing over to him, Naruto stepped forward and pulled out a scroll.

"I believe you left the village before finishing the last twenty forbidden jutsus in this scroll. Am I correct? Well, if you can kill all three of us, then the scroll is yours."

Orochimaru looked stunned before emitting a wild cackle. Facing his old sensei he tried to control the glee that was emitting from him, "Sarutobi-sensei! I'm so proud! You have a fine set of a Shinobi! And so young, too. Deal, I accept your proposition. But by all means, all three of you can attack me at once. I need a little warm up for when I kill your Hokage!" Laughing wildly, Orochimaru was confident that this was going to be a short match. And so did the three ANBU and Sandaime.

"Have those kids gone crazy! I don't even think the three of _us _could take him down without dieing with him! Or maybe not at all!" One of the ANBU commented.

The Sandaime stared wide-eyed and astonished at the three genin on the other side of the barrier got into fighting stances. Looking at Naruto's face, it was tense and concentrated but not in the way it used to be. It was not care free and rash, or full of courage and dedication. Cold, hard, and ready for the kill. And his eyes… oh kami his eyes. Icy cold with something lurking underneath. This wasn't Naruto. It was impossible. Naruto knew he was a fool if he thought they could beat Orochimaru as they are now and not get really battered up. It was true that they had a huge amount of chakra at their disposal because of the chakra bubbles in their body, but all of their bodies were extremely weak. Naruto had to coat a layer of chakra on areas of his body, because when he was punching the crap out of the Sand ninja earlier, he heard a knuckle crack. And he couldn't afford to heal broken bones in the middle of a major battle. It was right about now Naruto wished the Gods had given him a kickass, strong body. He personally missed the lithe muscles that he slaved over. Shaking his head of all of these distractions, he got into a fighting pose, along with Shikamaru and Gaara. They were just going to have to work with what they had.

Shikamaru tightened his sweating hands over the hilt of his twin swords. The leather rubbed harshly on the not yet completely calloused skin on his hands. It may not have been a concern to Gaara or Naruto, or maybe they hadn't realized it yet, but exhibiting their powers like this definitely wasn't a good idea. The last thing they needed was for Madara to catch wind of three incredibly strong genins and come sniffing around. Seeing Naruto shift into his fighting position, he pushed that problem to the back of his mind, and leaned into his own. He could worry about Madara after they took care of Orochimaru.

Taking his swords, he started to spin and rotate them faster and faster until the blades became silver blurs. In one swift motion Naruto flew towards Orochimaru, a Rasengan already swirling alive.

Orochimaru dodged to the side, and he swiveled threw a wave of sand, long, pale fingers swiftly moving.

"**Senei Ta Jashu!" (Multiple Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)**

Snakes shot out of his sleeves, and were heading towards Gaara, when several slashes of light later, all the snakes lay in a bloody pile, Shikamaru kneeling in the middle of it. His eyes practically glowed with hate and malice. Spinning on the balls of his feet, Shikamaru spun his swords around as Gaara simultaneously took a gigantic breath.

"**Burēdo no jutsu! Shadou-ha!" (****Blade Technique! Shadow Wave!)**

"**Kaze no uzu!" (Wind Maelstrom!)**

Hitting Orochimaru dead on, Shikamaru and Gaara flipped backwards (still in a defensive pose) and landed next to Naruto. Feeling tremors under their feet, they each scattered from the area. Only milliseconds after they jumped into the air, a giant fire ball erupted from the ground, causing them to go careening back.

"Naruto! Shikamaru! Just get out of there!" yelled Sarutobi.

Shikamaru was beyond his limits now. "God dammit! I hate this fucking body it's so slow!" Turning to the yelling ANBU and hokage outside the barrier, his eyes shown wild. "And just shut up already! You're distracting me!" In a fit of rage, he sent a ball of black energy towards the barrier wall. As it collided with the topside, the barrier vibrated with buzzing chakra. The black chakra bounced off the walls like electricity several times before it sunk into the barrier and stained it black. This completely cut them off from the outside and the present ANBU and Third Hokage could only watch in distress as the four ninja disappeared behind the black cloud. The area inside was now almost completely dark. Smirking at this new turn of events Shikamaru cracked his shoulders. "Now this is how I like it. You know Orochimaru, I really hate power players, and that is exactly what you are. I've got a lot of pent up anger in me; you're just the person to help me out. And the best part about it is it's not troublesome at all."

Suddenly, Shikamaru felt something well inside of him. Gaara and Naruto could slightly see a green glow coming from Shikamaru's back. Not wanting to waste anymore time, they all stored this information for later. Reaching his hands out, he sent a ripple of shadow energy through the ground, which made Orochimaru blast from the cover of the roof tiles. Orochimaru was on their terrain now.

(Don't really want to explain the whole fight, so time skip and just assume that they prevented Orochimaru from summoning the Hokages after all. And also they are all pretty beat up)

Gaara's right arm was bleeding heavily where Orochimaru had cut him with the grass sword. He was hiding behind a rock wall that was placed there by Naruto. Peering from behind the wall, he caught sight of Naruto who was meditating in a little alcove created by two toppled over slabs of stone.

"This is impossible! How are a couple of genin able to fight me! Who are you! You are not the Uchiha's foolish comrades!" Orochimaru screamed in rage, as he took a wild swipe at Shikamaru, successfully being able to cut him, and draw blood from his stomach. Shikamaru grabbed his stomach and screamed in pain as blood gushed out of the open wound. Seeing his chance Orochimaru kicked Shikamaru, sending flying towards where Gaara was. Thinking fast, Gaara grabbed Shikamaru in the air with his sand, and quickly pulled him behind the wall. Setting him down gently, Gaara ripped open the shirt. Shikamaru began to cough up blood, as Gaara put his hands to the wound and tried to heal him. While sending the healing energy through his one of his closest friend's body, (the other being Naruto) he tried to ignore the sound of Orochimaru's voice drifting through the suddenly too still air.

" I know your little friend is hurt. I can help. You three, along with the Uchiha, will make a fine set of Shinobi to join my ranks. Who knows… maybe you'll come to your senses and bring down the hidden leaf."

Finally able to heal Shikamaru, and making sure that the wound was partly healed, (Shikamura added in his own chakra to speed up the healing process) they waited with baited breath. The soft clicking of Orochimaru's sandals on the roof top, drew closer and closer.

"Over my dead body."

All of them turning their gaze towards the direction the voice was coming from. Naruto stood tall and dangerous in full Sage Mode, but this accomplishment came at a price, because Naruto was covered in gashes all over from where his body couldn't handle the stress. (think Yusuke when he got the spirit energy from Genkai if anyone knows what I'm talking about).

Stepping back in fear Orochimaru gaped. "This isn't possible! It takes years to achieve that and not even Jiraiya was able to fully master it!" Taking another look at Naruto, he tried to gather up whatever was left of his wits. "But even at your current state you couldn't kill me without killing yourself."

Pulling out a scroll, Orochimaru _tried_ to Summon Manda the Snake. Looking at Gaara and Shikamaru right in the eye, Naruto gave them a wide shining smile, and then faced Orochimaru again. "You're right, I can't. But it's a good thing I'm ready to die." Without missing a step , he pushed himself off the ground and down towards where Orochimaru was standing.

"NARUTO NOOO!"

"**Supiritto wa hō o shīringu!" (Spirit Sealing Method!)**

It was a version not unlike the original, except it was for a living soul. A huge deathly Shinigami appeared behind Naruto, and with a swipe of his rotting, clawed hands, he took hold of a shrieking Orochimaru. Before he could even utter a word, Orochimaru's soul was ripped from his body, and his soul was taken. The incomplete Curse Seal on the Sound Four's necks sent a poisonous chakra threw their bodies instantly killing them, causing the barrier to collapse, and a huge cloud of dust and rubble to go air born. As the Shinigami's form disappeared, Orochimaru's body hit the floor, followed by the limp and small form of Naruto. The sun filtered in, but all was deathly silent.

Staring at the still, bloodied body, Shikamaru crawled to his lover's side, and pushed him onto his back.

"Naruto… Naruto… Naruto wake up this isn't funny. I told you if you died, and I'd kill myself too. Please don't leave me! Naruto!" Shaking the blonde back and forth he stopped when the body flopped back onto the floor. He stared and stared at the body, without uttering a word. Gaara watched from behind Shikamaru, but he had to turn away as tears cascade down is already stained face. Hearing footsteps approach, someone yelled _'there's someone up ahead'_ and Kakashi, Kurenai, Gai, Genma, Ibiki, Jiraiya, Sarutobi, and a few other jounin and ANBU ran to where Gaara was standing. As they came closer, they wearily looked towards Gaara.

"Do not worry. Gaara was helping the Leaf during the invasion." Sarutobi stated while he tried to take a look behind the sand boy. Gaara, suddenly feeling bursts of anger and sadness well up inside of him, tried to block the Leaf Ninja from coming any closer by sending up a wall of sand. But he was too exhausted to even lift it more then three inches off the ground. Falling onto his knees, Gaara had to cast his head downward, as salty, bitter tears rolled down his cheeks, his shoulders slightly shaking.

Jiraiya finally looking beyond the red haired youth, and saw a mop of yellow hair peeking out from beside the sitting Nara boy. Dread overwhelmed all his senses as he looked a the pale face of his dead student's son. Orochimaru's body yards away was completely forgotten.

"Is he.. is he… dea…"

He was unable to finish the word because Shikamaru punched the ground next to Naruto's head. Looking up at the sky, Shikamaru couldn't stand it anymore. He bursts into cries and screams, and all the ninja (minus Gaara) had to step back from shock. They had all heard that cry before, but why it would come from such a young boy eluded them all.

"NO HE'S NOT DEAD! HE CAN'T BE! IT'S ALL A SICK JOKE, RIGHT NARUTO! WAKE UP… WAKE UP… wake up…wake u…"

Choking on his words, Shikamaru softly sobbed. "You can't be dead. I love you Naruto."

Not caring that seventeen other ninja (some he didn't even know) were watching him, Shikamaru leaned down and kissed Naruto on the lips. Tears from his eyes dropped onto Naruto's scarred cheeks, and as he pulled away, he hoped with all his heart that Naruto would wake up. Kurenai and Gai, along with some of the other Jounins were crying at he sheer pain that was coming off of the kneeling boy. Kakashi's sharingan eye was too, but he would be lying if he didn't admit that his own he felt a little moist, too.

Taking a shaky breath, Shikamaru's glazed and dull eyes wandered to the Shuriken poking out of Naruto's weapon holster. Looking at Naruto's face, and back at the twinkling weapon, his hand slowly started to reach for it. Then he felt it. The soft touch on his knee. Snapping his head back to Naruto's face, he watched as Naruto's warm, sky blue eyes lazily started to open.

"I'm not dead yet. I'm not going anywhere. I still have to be Hokage again." Shikamaru cried out with joy, as he pulled Naruto into a bruising kiss. Holding Shikamaru tightly, Naruto closed his eyes, and placed his head in the crook of his lover's neck. Plus I'd never leave any of you behind. Not like this at least."

Looking up from the hug, Naruto beckoned Gaara over, who took no time in joining them in the embrace. Squeezing each other tightly, they had to let go because of the painful injuries that littered their bodies. Touching his cheek, Naruto away the stream of tears. "When was the last time I cried." Naruto laughed dryly, but clutched his stomach from the pain. (no doubt sporting a few broken bones)They all had cut it close, and it just showed how much work had to be done before they could face the currently present Akatsuki and Madara.

There were many questions that were left unanswered. The surrounding ninja carried the three 'genin' to the hospital, silently agreeing that no one else was to know about this. The whole scene was very confusing and they knew there were a few things that they were missing. It just wasn't adding up. They all knew now was not the time for interrogation. They needed rest and time to recover from the blow, Orochimaru's invasion had on Konoha and its heroes. No doubt Gaara, Shikamaru, and Naruto would be out for a week once they got to the hospital, but after that they were getting answers. Kakashi watched as a medical ninja placed Naruto's body on a stretcher and took him to the emergency room. What had happened during the time he was training Sasuke? Looking at the bewildered and worried appearance displayed on Jiraiya's face, it seemed that this was a really recent development. Sighing in exhaustion, Kakashi excused himself, and left to go find the remaining two members of Team Seven. Leaving the hospital, he traveled through Konoha and ended up passing Asuma, who was patting Chouji and Ino on the back for working so hard. They left to go find Shikamaru, but Kakashi decided not to tell them that he knew the shadow boy was in the hospital. It would be the smartest choice to keep what happened earlier as confidential as possible. Even if that meant only for a little while.

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><p>Yay! I think this has been my longest chapter! The next chapter I'll explain how Naruto came back alive, and no it wasn't true love. Oh and about earlier in the story when all the characters showed up on the roof. Readers, don't think <em>wow that was cliché <em>because all those characters did appear when the Sandaime died in canon… I checked episode 80. Also for all those who were disappointed with not seeing Sasuke get thrown around like a rag doll NO WORRIES! I'm definitely going to add that in later in the story, and this will probably end up being a very long one. It's just the beginning and already 10,000 words. Well I hope you enjoyed and please its okay to review. No one is stopping you.

Chapter Four: Interrogation: Little White Lies


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Interrogation- Little White Lies

Ok! So I wanted to thank my reviewers! It always feels fantastic to hear from someone. And it doesn't have to be good (as long as its not harsh). The story is out there for people to read, so why wouldn't you want to make comments so I can improve my writing. Question! And answer truthfully. How many days does an average writer on this site take to update a story?

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does… But if I did own it, that would be really cool. I own all OC mentioned in the story though! Enjoy ^_^v

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><p>"Oh god my head." Shikamaru murmured. Cracking his eyes open, his head felt like someone bashed it against a wall and showered spray paint on him. (It smells terrible) There was a stale taste in his mouth, too. <em>This was such a drag. How lame could it get?<em> Trying to switch into a different position, his wrists were jerked back by something. He lifted his head off the propped up pillow and looked down.

"The fuck is this." He moaned. He tugged on his wrists, but only felt the cold metal handcuffs wrapped around his wrists on both sides of the bed. Letting his head drop onto the backboard of the bed, he looked around the room. A wave of relief flooded within him when he saw Naruto on the other side of the room, even if he was handcuffed, too. Unfortunately Gaara was nowhere in sight. Shikamaru figured that even though the Sand had attacked Konoha, they would still request that one of their own not be cuffed down. And the Sandaime was a lenient person anyway. So Gaara was either being carted back to the Village Hidden in the Sand or with his siblings somewhere in Konoha. (With Leaf Ninja guarding the area no doubt) Flopping his head to the side, he peered over at the gifts, cards and flowers from various people, bunched onto the small bedside table. Looking at the flowers, he took in their condition.

"Ino would only get the best for her friends, and these look relatively new. The dried water line stain is four inches above the water, so we've probably been here for three days, give or take one." Shikamaru voiced out loud.

"Does your mind ever stop?" Whispered an amused Naruto.

"I can say the same about your mouth." He retorted in a playful manner.

The drowsiness gone from his body, Shikamaru pushed himself up into a sitting position. Grunting as some of his limbs cracked, he sent chakra threw his body, effectively healing any left over injuries. Naruto, that lucky guy, had the Kyuubi to thank for his relatively okay condition.

Naruto was fidgeting in his bed, fiddling with the cuffs while staring at Shikamaru.

"I say we high tail it out of here, look around Konoha, and then be back by morning before anyone notices." Naruto spoke softly. He had an anxious glint in his eyes, and for a moment Shikamaru was going to protest, but the look on his face was just so cute.

"Are all Nara's whipped someway or another?" Shikamaru questioned under his breathe.

Making sure that his stomach wound wasn't still tender, he kicked the sheets to the side, and jiggled the cuffs around. "Naruto, do you still know how to do handless Jutsus?"

"Err… No. I forgot."

Sitting there in silence, they just stared at each other, before the shadow boy smirked.

"We can always replace the cuffs when we come back."

Lifting his knees up into his chest, Shikamaru hooked his feet onto the chains, added chakra and pushed. The cuffs shattered onto the bed. The ninja who chained them must have thought they'd be too weak to even need chakra cuffs. Their mistake. Naruto followed quickly, and rubbed his wrists. His blonde hair was flying in all directions, and Shikamaru thought he still saw bed sheet impressions on Naruto's face. Not to mention the dark blue hospital outfit, consisting of pants and a shirt (sorry no butt showing gowns) really brought out his eyes.

"You're so cute when you wake up." Shikamaru stated plainly.

Smacking Shikamaru over the head while walking to the window across the room, he blushed.

"This is going to take a bit to get used to. A thirteen year old Shikamaru."

Chuckling at his statement, they both replaced themselves with clones (just in case) and jumped out the window into the hospital's central garden. There feet barely touched the floor before they were off again, leaping onto the hospital roof, and into the village. Soaring over the village, they took in the smells and lights twinkling below them. Apparently this time around, the village was in better condition after the invasion. Naruto almost stopped at Ichiraku's but remembered that they weren't even supposed to be out this late. _Was it ever even open this late? _After a while of circling the village, they got tired, and there feet were a little sore. Naruto and Shikamaru sat themselves on a high roof facing most of Konoha and the Hokage Mountain, which was lacking one and a half faces. (They never got to finish Naruto's face before Madara leveled the mountain). Shikamaru sat with his with his legs crossed, and back to one of the rooftop's pikes (decoration on the rooftop that sticks out on the edge; don't know what its really called), while Naruto made himself comfortable in his lap. Not looking at him, Naruto stared at the village, playing with Shikamaru's fingers. The lights reflected off of his eyes and made them shine and sparkle even more then they usually did. Nuzzling his chin on Naruto's head, he wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him closer.

"So what happened?" Naruto knew that Shikamaru was referring to when he had 'died', and it surprised him that his lover would even bring it up so soon.

"In truth I'm not exactly sure. I have a theory though. The gods said that we would take over these bodies, and now that I think of it, the souls of our younger selves must have, and for you and Gaara, still be in these bodies."

"So you're saying that the Shinigami took the soul of the 'other' Naruto."

"Maybe. I'm not exactly sure that it was a 'soul' per say."

Shikamaru sat there in silence for a moment before answering.

"Since the previous Naruto is still you, I think you're 'souls' melded together like our bodies will start to do, but what the Shinigami took was the excess life force and energy that was in you're body. Is that what you're thinking. It does make sense, but I guess we'll never know for sure if its true. You were lucky, and I've never been more grateful."

Naruto heard a slight quiver in his voice, but didn't say anything. Naruto grabbed Shikamaru's hand and held it tightly, changing the subject.

"I can't wait until I can actually talk to everyone again. Even go to Ichiraku's. Everyone looked so happy." He paused for moment before continuing. "I saw Ino in the crowd at the Exams. She looked really pretty."

"We are not having this conversation." Shikamaru said. Naruto blushed as he felt him shake from silent laughter. "Not only is she technically tens years younger then me, she like Shikamaru Nara, the lazy ass chunin, not me as I am now. Plus you should know by now that I don't like blonde haired, blue eyed girls."

Turning around to face Shikamaru, he gave him a questioning look. "I like blonde haired, blue eyed boys."

Kissing Naruto on the lips, they sat on the roof until the sun's rays started to lightly coat the dark sky.

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><p>"Do you feel nauseous or dizzy?"<p>

"No."

"Can you move your limbs alright?"

"Yes."

"Are your experiencing hallucinations?"

"Nope."

"Does anything look distorted or out of the ordinary?"

"Just your face, lady."

The nurse wrinkled her nose, and stormed off in frustration. An hour after Shikamaru and Naruto made it back to the room, a nurse had come in to check on them. Shikamaru was pretending to still be asleep, but Naruto was too busy looking out the window to care if a nurse came in to check on him. His opinion quickly changed when he met her. She obviously wasn't too happy with treating the "Kyuubi Brat' and Naruto was aggravated enough with the fact that he was no longer Konoha's hero. Just a stupid, little kid again. He had no problem with taking out his irritation on the nurse, and tried to make her job as hard as possible.

Once the door shut with a bang, Shikamaru opened his eyes and looked in that direction. Gazing at Naruto, he put his head in his palm.

"Women."

"Amen." Agreed Naruto. While it was true Naruto used to have a crush on Sakura, it was also true that he was constantly victim to women's brutality, whether it was because he was being dense, or Jiraiya framing him at the hot springs.

"Guys! That nurse said that we can go in now!" Yelled a voice echoed from outside their hospital room. The door was promptly thrown open by Kiba who was followed by the rest of their friends and senseis. Shikamaru tried to appear like he was sleeping, but Ino had already seen him.

"Shikamaru! Don't even try to pretend you're sleeping!"

"Go away troublesome woman." He muffled threw the pillow he had his face to.

"Now now Shikamaru. Is that anyway to treat visiting friends." His heart skipped a beat when he heard that voice. The smell of cigarettes wasn't too far.

"Asuma-sensei!" Shikamaru exclaimed. Seeing his dead sensei was like balm to a wound. The thought that none of them had to die this time was really reassuring. Even if Asuma had died before the war even began, it was by Akatsuki hands and therefore connected to Madara. And they thought _Sasori_ was a puppet master.

"What am I, chopped liver? I'm awake too!"

Everyone turned around to see Naruto, smiling at them. The smile was heart warming in a strange way. Not the stupid grin he always wore, but like a father looking after you. It was kind of…weird.

"Stop being so creepy, Naruto." Sakura said. Shikamaru had to cover his mouth to hide his amusement when Naruto face faulted at the first words he heard from Sakura.

"Creepy? I'm trying to get some attention here!"

Kakashi smiled at his student. "Yo, Naruto. How's the ticker doing."

Turning to his favorite sensei he smiled broadly. "Still ticking, Kaka-sensei. Aren't you kinda on time? You shouldn't be here for another hour or so."

"I'm actually here for another reason, but that can wait till later."

The gleam in his eye was evidence enough to what Kakashi meant.

Everyone else ignored the last statement because it was normal Kakashi Hatake behavior to act strange.

"Dobe."

Both Shikamaru and Naruto instantly turned their heads to the Uchiha standing close to the door. The whole room gathered around Shikamaru when they felt the need to leave the two teammates alone.

"Bastard! You're alive. Well that's to be expected. The Ninja probably mistook you as a bird with that duck butt hairstyle of yours. Go get a hair cut or something."

If looks could kill that was all that needed to be said. "Like you're one to talk, sunshine." Obviously referring to his golden main, Naruto grabbed his hair and laughed.

"You ok, you actually look alive again. I was getting worried when you went all depressed on me during the exams." Naruto was kind of confused. Wasn't Sasuke a complete ass from when he got marked until he left Konoha? This couldn't be Sasuke right?

"Yeah, well the Sandaime killed Orochimaru and the seal mark disappeared. I realized that I didn't need his power." _Whoa say what! I killed Orochimaru, and Sasuke not needing power! The hell is happening? Is Sasuke actually changing?_

"If I'm going to kill my brother, it's going to be with my own abilities." _Never mind. I guess I'll still have to beat the crap out of him later._

"Well that's a slight improvement I guess." Thought Naruto as he smiled at him.

Before they could continue, the Sandaime, along with a few ANBU and Ibiki walked in.

"We're sorry to interrupt, but we need you all to leave."

Not wanting it to look suspicious, Kurenai left with Asuma and the others, leaving it to Kakashi to retell her what they would find out. Slowly everyone left, confused about what they needed with Shikamaru and Naruto. The door closed softly behind them, and the occupants inside waited until the footsteps disappeared. Seeing where this was going, Shikamaru joined Naruto and Kakashi on the other side of the room. Ibiki stepped forward and glared at them both.

"You realize we can throw you in jail for stealing the Forbidden Scroll. In fact, I have half a mind to torture you for how much you put on the line. The secrets you almost handed over to a man that is… was hell bent in destroying the Hidden Leaf. But… it didn't happen. And you got rid of a threat to Konoha. The only question is how?"

Shikamaru really wasn't that good at winging things, and even if he had gone through worse during the war, he'd rather not be submitted to Ibiki's torture methods. Looking at his hands, he opened his mouth to speak.

"He can't remember anything."

All heads snapped to Kakashi, who was leaning against the wall looking out the window.

"And neither can Naruto. I checked with the Sharingan and there's a huge gap inside their minds. I could tell they weren't trying to block it because there weren't any walls or tension preventing me from entering."

Naruto glanced at Shikamaru and gave a baffled shrug. Where had that come from?

"Is this true? You can't remember anything?" Questioned the Third. Naruto looked him dead in the eye and sighed in his head. _I guess all good things have to come to an end._

"Old man! What is everyone talking about! I'm here because I was knocked out during the invasion. And I stole the scroll _months_ ago." _I hate when I have to act like an idiot._

"Naruto you dumbass. Don't speak to the Hokage like that. This is such a drag. Man, all I wanted was a simple life, and now I'm dragged into this kind of trouble. This sucks. I don't even want to _be_ here." Shikamaru played along.

Ibiki narrowed his eyes, and looked at Kakashi one more time.

"Maybe we should hand them over to Inoichi Yamanaka. I'm sure he could find something."

"I wouldn't recommend it Morino. Don't you remember the last time you gave Inoichi a ninja suffering from amnesia. That didn't end too well did it." Kakashi shot back. He was obviously offended that Ibiki didn't trust his abilities. (Or maybe his word)

"Frankly I'm finding this completely unbelievable. You saw what happened on the rooftop! They were fine when we got there. I hardly think anyone could forget killing a Sannin! And what about those Sound Ninjas we found dead in the area? I think you're hiding something." Ibiki accused.

Naruto and Shikamaru sat there, doing their best to look clueless.

"This will not be let me, boys. We will be back to ask questions when you do start remembering things. What you did wasn't a bad thing, but I hope you understand that we need to know what is going on. Ibiki let's go. There isn't anything else for us to do here."

The Sandaime, rubbed his forehead, and sighed. Before he could speak again, Naruto cut him off. "Old man. Don't you think you're getting too old for this? Go find a successor or something."

The words definitely made the ANBU bristle. How dare some boy insult their Hokage! But before they could anything about it, the Hokage held up his hand.

"Maybe Naruto is right. But for now, let us leave to take care of other things. I am still Hokage, and there is still more then two boys that make up Konoha. Get better Naruto. You too, Shikamaru. Your parents are very worried about you and are waiting for you at home."

Leading the others out the door, he turned back around as Ibiki was walking down the hall with the ANBU. "You'll be released out of the hospital in two days, so until then don't go gallivanting around Konoha at night." Giving them a knowing look, he left them behind.

"Well there was a reason he was Hokage." Stated Shikamaru. Then, all attention was turned over to Kakashi, who was still in the room. They waited for him to start explaining himself, obviously a little more then inquisitive about what went down just a moment ago.

I'll explain if you don't interrupt me until I'm done." Kakashi said, giving the two 'boys' a bored uninterested look. Shaking their heads in understanding, Kakashi sat down in the nearest chair and began.

"About a day ago, the Sand was ordered to leave the village, but could come back once they were willing to sign a treaty. I was watching them go, when the most peculiar sight caught my eye. Gaara of the Sand. He and his siblings were actually talking without threats or fear laced into the conversation. I'm going to be dead serious when I say, I think I had a Kodak moment when Gaara hugged his brother without the intension of squeezing him to death." Taking a breath he continued his story.

"And the surprises didn't end there. On my way back to the village, after escorting the Sand a few miles from Konoha, I was joined by one of Gaara's sand clones who gave me a scroll, told me to read it, and then ran off." Shifting so that he could lean down, Kakashi pulled a small tan scroll out of one of his pant pockets and began to read.

_Kakashi,_

_I know this may sound strange, but since Naruto and Shikamaru are not conscience to make a choice, I am left to decide what to do. We are not who you think we are, and I think you'll be aware of what I mean when you look through your students' minds. Naruto and Shikamaru will understand your actions once you tell them it was me who asked you to do it. You'll know what to do after that. I trust you. Since I am leaving Konoha, and I probably wont be back in some time, and we need someone else to help us. Give this message to Shikamaru and Naruto when they wake up. I'll be back in a few months, but I will still find a way to communicate. –Gaara_

Pushing the scroll into his holster, he looked back at the duo.

"Needless to say, I didn't tell anyone. I rushed over to the hospital and did exactly what Gaara said. So since I knew your little secret, that made me involved. And now that I'm involved, I had to do by best in keeping the secret. Even if it meant lying to the Hokage."

Silence filled the room. Naruto and Shikamaru realized that Gaara's move was a smart one (he was a Kazekage after all) but what worried them the most, was how sloppy they were being. Without being backed into a corner, they were getting careless and leaving openings. It had to stop and they needed to start training, too.

"And the spy Kabuto?" Shikamaru questioned.

"Left Konoha before anyone could notice." Kakashi replied, an undertone of malice in his voice at the thought of the traitor/spy. Nodding in understanding, but still frustrated at their situation with Kabuto, Naruto leaned back onto the pillow behind him. Well they couldn't really do anything until they got stronger anyway. Sighing, smiled at Kakashi.

"Well, welcome aboard. Now that we're all on the same boat, and there's four people of us, we're officially a real Ninja Squad." Joked Naruto.

Kakashi smiled, and got up from his seat. Opening the window, he jumped onto the frame, and glanced back at the pair.

"You're father would be proud of what you've accomplished." He said, vanishing in a blink of an eye. Naruto looked confused for a moment before it clicked. _Oh yeah, he saw my memories. _Letting the incident sink in, the looked at each other, exhausted.

"Well since we've got nothing to do for two days, let's see if we can get that nurse to bring us a Shogi board or something." Yawned Shikamaru.

"You just want to whoop my ass because I beat Orochimaru."

"I call dibs on killing Madara." Shikamaru said before sauntering out the door to find the nurse. It was good to be back home.

* * *

><p>So not a very serious chapter. It was just meant to tie a few loose ends left in the previous ones and set the base for the rest of the story. Ohhh, and I discovered something. I had a writers block when I was writing this story, so I started to listen to music and dance. It works people. Ideas just started popping up like popcorn. It was crazy! And all I had to do was listen to <em>music <em>and _spin_. Well, thanks for reading! Review!

Chapter Five: One Hundred Laps Around Konoha


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: One Hundred Laps Around Konoha

All right people! I just want to thank my reviewers for leaving their comments. At first I was going to make this chapter pretty angsty, but then I realized that the title _vaguely _reminded me of Gai. So this chapter will be a little more light hearted.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does… But if I did own it, that would be really cool. I own all OC mentioned in the story though! Enjoy ^_^v

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><p>"Yosh! Kakashi-san has informed me that you're youthful fire has weakened! He has sent me to relight the passion for strength!"<p>

Naruto's forehead vein twitched in agitation, the gleam in his eye was evidence enough that Kakashi was not going to be in a good place later.

_He better hope that his Icha Icha is waterproof…_

Being released from the hospital was a relief. He was starting to get sick of losing at Shogi and the smug look Shikamaru wore every time he lost. Giving his lover a quick kiss on the cheek when no one was looking, he rushed out of the hospital. Seeing Konoha in full daylight in its entire splendor was a sight like no other. Naruto often thought that if he could fly, then looking down at Konoha would be like seeing a rainbow on the ground. The different color rooftops, and the various clan symbols really added an extra amount of color that the other hidden villages didn't have.

He was in possession of another orange jump suit, since the black pants Gaara gave him were thoroughly destroyed. Unfortunately, he had a pile waiting at his old apartment for him to take care of. Naruto suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"You've got to be kidding me… It's been so long and I don't even remember where my old apartment is…"

He ruffled his hair, trying his best to recall where it was. He knew that it was somewhere near the red light district, but still in a safer part of Konoha. The light bulb didn't take long to illuminate, and Naruto was off. Sadly, he had a hard time getting there. When the gods said he'd have a growth spurt, they weren't kidding. And doubled by the kyuubi's chakra, it looked like he had grown an inch in the past six days. He was really glad that when he was younger he wore clothes way too big for him because the garments were only a little tight now. But the shoes weren't that comfortable anymore.

Kicking open his old apartment door, he had to back away because of the stench. How did he not smell this when he was younger? Naruto would have fumigated the place, or maybe even torched it, but he had more important things to do. Finally daring to enter, holding his breath of course, Naruto rushed to the closet looking for a large brown box. "I'm pretty sure Iruka-sensei gave me some of his old stuff around this time of my life." Finding the box, he yanked it out of the closet, causing balls of dust to spring forth. A few gasps and sneezes later, he quickly sent a few clones to clean the house, which was a war zone in itself. At this moment he didn't have enough money to by a whole arsenal of new clothes, and his father's fortune wasn't legally his until he was eighteen, so he'd have to deal with hand-me-downs. Pulling the clothes on, they fit perfectly, and Naruto couldn't help but wonder how he was even able to kill Orochimaru at a height that barely met five feet and two inches.

"No wonder people thought I wasn't going to be Hokage. I looked like a dwarf."

Well he was actually barely five feet and three inches, now. He still had four more inches, and a whole hell lot of muscle to go.

Seeing that it was still morning, Naruto decided to get to work. He wasn't going to get all his skills back by buying new clothes, and cleaning his house. Stretching his limbs out, he walked towards the door and opened it, but quickly had to move to the side to avoid a green monster. Konoha's Green Beast to be exact. At the time, Naruto had thought Kakashi had let it slip about their predicament, but it seemed that that wasn't the case. Naruto was sure they were all on the same page about keeping this just between them unless it got too bad.

But for now, Naruto was here, right outside the village, Gai shining with enthusiasm, while his stood with his head facing the sky.

"So I have decided my young friend, that Lee shouldn't be the only bright genin to go through this training. One hundred laps around our lovely village in four hours! And if we cannot do that, then we shall climb the Hokage Mountain with just our hands!"

Rolling his eyes, Naruto burst into laughter and got into a running position. He was kind of eager to see how well he'd do against one of Konoha's fastest ninja when he wasn't even at his best physical condition yet.

"What if I finish before you?"

"Ahh such youthful confidence! If you do, then I will buy you dinner!"

Digging his feet into the ground, Naruto made sure that his bandana was tied tightly around his forehead. There was no way he was going to lose.

_Gai may be a Jounin, but I'm a Hokage._

All anyone could see was a cloud of dust, and a white and green blur zipping by.

* * *

><p>"Shikamaru! Get back here!"<p>

"Later, Mom." Shikamaru dashed out of the front door, avoiding the hand that was reaching for his ear. From the corner of his eye he caught the sight of his father, who wore a small smirk. It was good to have them back. He hadn't even seen them die since they were both killed around the third year of the war during a surprise attack.

Shikamaru strolled around town, looking at all the people's faces. It set a new level of determination in him when he saw how much that could go right this time. He'd make sure that none of the 'Kings' (children) of Konoha ever had to suffer like they did before. He figured he should be training right now since he wouldn't grow as fast as Naruto and Gaara, who both incidentally had Jinchuuriki locked in them. But… there were more important things to attend to. As Naruto's boyfriend, he felt responsible for straightening up Sasuke. Shikamaru knew that no matter what Sasuke did or how much Naruto denied it, Sasuke would always be Naruto's best friend. It was a bond that made Shikamaru jealous because it was the type friendship that didn't come around very often. As much as it pained him to not do, he couldn't kill Sasuke. That would make Naruto unhappy, and making Naruto unhappy was something Shikamaru wouldn't stand for. On the up side, the way things were going as is; he'd probably get the chance to kick the Uchiha's ass. Do a little more then 'smacking' sense into him.

"Why don't I find him right now. It would be too troublesome to have someone else stumble across him before he's down from his 'power high' state."

Shikamaru cut through the main part of town, which happened to be the longest route to where he assumed Sasuke would be training. There was no real rush and an hour wasn't going to make that much of a difference in the end. Finally getting out of the main part of the village, he crossed a bridge and made his way to the memorial stone training grounds. On his way across, he caught sight of a huge cloud of dust in the distance.

_Huh…wonder what that's all about?_

Shaking off his curiosity, he leisurely walked through the trees, making his presence known. Hopefully Kakashi wouldn't be there, but if he were, Shikamaru would make sure that he didn't interfere with his business. Shikamaru stepped closer to the training ground, eyes directed towards the sky, and easily avoiding the trees in his way. The sound of kunai thumping and digging into wood was heard and he could effortlessly tell that was Sasuke. He was practically oozing chakra, and probably would attract any ninja who was looking for a fight. Shikamaru guessed that Sasuke's body was automatically flushing out the poisonous chakra from Orochimaru, but it wasn't so much that it would physically wear Sasuke out.

Entering through a conglomeration of bushes, Shikamaru had to move his head a bit to the side to avoid a flying shuriken.

"You knew that was me." Shikamaru harshly accused. He could easily tell from the slow speed of the weapon Sasuke was throwing, that he was fully aware the person he was aiming at was not a threat.

"Why are you here, Shikamaru." Sasuke asked, wiping the sweat off his brow.

"I'm here because we never got to finish what we started, and frankly, it's giving me a headache." Shikamaru spoke in a bored tone, but the look in his eyes was sharp and attentive. Sasuke couldn't help but thinking how much Shikamaru was acting like Kakashi, well… minus the perverseness.

"What makes you think you can even land a hit." Sasuke said confidently.

Shikamaru smirked at the opening. "Let's make a deal then, Uchiha. If I can knock you out, then you have to apologize to Naruto and treat him to Ichiraku's. No jutsus."

"Fine. And _when I_ knock _you_ out, you'll let me borrow you're family's ninja scrolls."

"Deal."

Not even letting the word completely leave his lips, Shikamaru and Sasuke both jumped at each other, kunai in hand. Shikamaru easily blocked Sasuke, and dropped to the floor. Seeing that Sasuke would probably kick his face, he rolled behind him. Sasuke could barely follow Shikamaru's movements as he slashed at him with his kunai. Shikamaru kicked himself off the ground, letting his leg spring up, and knock Sasuke's weapon out of his hand. This went on for about ten minutes, playing with Sasuke, and letting him try to at least think he could land a hit on him. He would lightly punch Sasuke in the arm or shoulder and then retreat before going back. He even let Sasuke's fist come within an inch of touching him just for fun. Getting bored of playing around, he sprung forward, landing a hard punch in Sasuke's gut. Sasuke kneeled over, trying to regain the breath that was knocked out of him, but he never got to recover, since Shikamaru kicked him on his back. He lay flat on the floor, trying to get up, but was shaking at the force of the previous punches.

"I don't… understand. You could barely hit me a few minutes ago." Sasuke gasped.

"Look again, Sasuke." Shikamaru replied, standing over Sasuke as he picked the dirt out of his nails. Sasuke bent his head, and noticed the small knick marks all over his body.

_That whole time, he wasn't directly aiming for me! _Sasuke thought.

"Don't worry, Sasuke. We're not done. You're not unconscious…yet."

Picking Sasuke up by the cuff of his shirt, he kneed again, landing punches all over his body. Blood oozed from the side of Sasuke's mouth, and he was starting to see black at the end of his vision. _How is this happening? He didn't even win his Chunin Exam fight._

Throwing him harshly to the ground, Shikamaru leaned down so that his nose was practically touching Sasuke's.

"You ever think about betraying Konoha, and I swear on my fucking life, you'll be tortured slowly by yours truly before I kill you."

Letting go of his shirt, Shikamaru stood up and dusted himself off. He looked down at Sasuke, a harsh glare (not unlike an Uchiha's) plastered on his face.

"You're a good fighter, Sasuke. But you lack any good moral. You learn to actually think about more then yourself, and maybe I'll consider you a friend. And maybe I'll just let you borrow my family's scrolls. But for now, grow up asshole. And just so you know, I didn't hit your face because I don't think Naruto would appreciate it that much."

Delivering a swift kick to his head, Shikamaru left Sasuke in the middle of the training ground, appearing as if a bear had mauled him.

* * *

><p>The final stretch around Konoha was nearing, and Naruto was pretty much toe to toe with Gai. At the speed they were going, they had already created deep trenches in the earth from their feet. A crowd of Shinobi had already gathered, staring down at them from the top of Konoha's walls. Some had attempted to get a closer view at the contest, but were run over by the Green Beast and the mini Yellow Flash; as they dubbed the 'mysterious' person running beside Gai. The pair was running so fast that the other ninja couldn't actually recognize who they were. The only knew one of them was Gai because no one else in Konoha wore a green jumpsuit… well except his student Lee, but he was in the hospital. The betting pools were up, and money was moving left and right as wages were made.<p>

Sweat was pouring off of both of them as they sped up even more, one lap from finishing. Naruto turned his head and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"I'd just like to say that this better become a daily occurrence because I love free ramen."

Letting his mind open a chakra bubble or two, Naruto pushed it all into his feet and dashed forward, literally leaving a shocked Gai in the dust. Naruto sprinted across the finish line, which was drawn by a couple of Chunin to make sure the contest was fair. Naruto tried to skid to a stop, but left an even larger dig mark at the attempt. When he finally stopped, his legs felt light and funny from being in constant motion for close to four hour. No doubt they'd feel like lead tomorrow morning, but lucky for him, the kyuubi prevented shin splints. Climbing out of the hole, he was almost kicked by Gai, who had just crossed the line and was slowing down himself.

"Gai, you just ate Naruto's dust."

Gai looked up to see an amused Kakashi leaning over him. He was holding another volume of Icha Icha and looked like he'd won a thousand dollars. Turning towards Naruto, he gave him a lazy one-eyed smile. "Good job Naruto. You just won me a thousand dollars." …Go figure.

"Ah! Kakashi! My hip and cool eternal rival! Your student shines! He is faster then Lee! You have taught him well!"

Muttering under his breath, which sounded oddly like _will teach, I will teach,_ he grabbed Naruto's hand and helped him the rest of the way out of the hole. Naruto felt his heart warm up at the words. He liked Kakashi a whole lot better when he treated him as an equal like after his three-year training 'adventure'. And seeing a glimpse of that Kakashi was reassuring to Naruto. Shaking his head out of the clouds, he turned to Gai who was still ranting about something, to which both him and Kakashi it seemed didn't even notice.

"Gai! I think you owe me a free meal!" Naruto yelled over him, cutting him off before he declared a match against Kakashi, too.

Gai nodded his head in determination (don't know what for) and punched his fist in the air. "Yosh! Time to eat! Lead the way, Kakashi's brilliant student!"

All three of them walked towards the wide-open gate of Konoha, completely ignoring the gawking faces of the previously gambling and observing Shinobi. While the three finally past the entrance and moved through the Konoha streets, only one thing was said and thought.

"Was that Naruto Uzumaki?" _Holy Shit…_

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><p>Naruto choked on his fifteenth bowl of ramen, ignoring (once again) a distressed Gai.<p>

"Come again. What was that?" Naruto was pretty sure the world was about to end. He almost checked outside to see if the sky was falling.

"Look, it was hard enough saying it the first time."

"I know, but I don't think I heard you right."

"I'm sorry." Sasuke said through gritted teeth.

"Wow. Thanks for…that." Naruto was stunned. Sasuke apologizing! This was ridiculous! He even checked if it was a clone, but it was definitely Sasuke. Sliding back onto his seat, Sasuke joined him beside an equally surprised Kakashi.

"Next thing I know you'll pay for the next bowl."

"Ayame, I'm paying for the next bowl. _But _only the next bowl."

Naruto actually fell off his chair. He was about to ask what was going on, when he saw Shikamaru pass by them, giving Naruto a triumphant but ever lazy smirk. Flipping back onto his chair, he decided not to push it, and let Sasuke off the hook. He could tease him later, but for now, he'd just enjoy it silently. Turning his head to talk to Sasuke, he took in his condition.

"Oh God Sasuke! You looked like a bear mauled you!"

Sasuke snapped his head to the side and ordered his bowl quietly. Naruto had to actually lean in to hear Sasuke mutter a response under his breath.

"…It was a deer."

"NNNOOO! My poor Icha Icha! Don't worry I'll save you!" That night, a lone shinobi spent his time fishing out his books from the river.

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><p>Awesome! Light hearted, and fillerish. I didn't really feel like writing anything serious at the moment, so it was just a break from the angst! Nothing else to say. Thank you for reading! ^_^v<p>

Chapter Six: Betting and Collecting


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Betting and Collecting

Another chapter, but this one will have the plot moving. I don't exactly know how to tie Gaara back in the story, but if anyone has ideas then I'll consider them. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does… But if I did own it, that would be really cool. I own all OC mentioned in the story though! Enjoy ^_^v

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><p>The night was silent and still except for the occasional ninja going to or coming from a mission. It was a night without stars, hidden under a blanket of dark gray clouds. But the storm would not hit Konoha, passing by like a warning to something that can be or could have been. A light was glowing through the thin paper walls of the slide doors in the Nara compound. The candle flickered slightly, but was replaced with a new one before it went out.<p>

Shikamaru stood by his mirror, his head turned at an odd angle to see the black tattoo marking his back. The tattoo was shaped like twisted vines, entwining themselves with each other. It wasn't that big, not even taking a fourth of his back, but anyone with eyes could see it clearly at first glance. And if ever he 'lost' his shirt during a battle, it would raise a lot of questions, and they were already under the watchful eyes of some of Konoha's most powerful ninja. Since that first day when they battled Orochimaru, only he had a visible mark of the gods. He didn't know why it appeared only for him, and when it would materialize for Naruto and Gaara, but it was doing something to his chakra. It felt thick and heavy, causing him to tire quicker during training. It was like normal chakra was water, and his was mud. Looking at the tattoo one more time, he moved his hands deftly, concealing the tattoo and suppressing the chakra emitting from it with an invisible seal. It kind of stung at first when he performed the sealing, but when it was over, he caught no sight of the design. It would have to do for now.

* * *

><p>"Can I bring a friend?"<p>

Jiraiya gave Naruto a quizzical look. Why would he want to bring a friend with him when they went to find Tsunade? It's not like he was going to be gone for a year or anything. Nodding his head hesitantly, Jiraiya let Naruto leave to go tell his friend. He had a sneaking suspicion that this 'friend' of his was that Nara boy, Shikamaru. Jiraiya knew it wasn't his place to meddle. He would let them do what they had to do, and when they felt like telling him, he'd be there. Plus he had the Akatsuki and his research to take care of. As long as the boys weren't blowing up Konoha or deciding to become missing-nin, it really wasn't his problem.

Naruto strode out of the door. While he really didn't _need_ Shikamaru to inspire Tsunade to come back to the Leaf Village, Tanzaku was a popular gaming place. He always wanted to match Shikamaru's wit with his luck, but he needed Shikamaru for when Itachi came by. What to do with the older brother was a question in itself. He couldn't join Konoha because of Sasuke, and they couldn't let him stay with the Akatsuki. Not with the chance that he would die from illness again, and Madara would obtain yet another set of powerful eyes. Flipping over a fence or two, he absentmindedly waved at all the civilians, which caused a lot of confusion. It was an old habit of his when he was Hokage to greet everyone because at the time, every one would greet him. Climbing up the stairs to the rooftop of a house, he found Shikamaru, who was watching the clouds and eating chips with Chouji.

"Yo Shika! You wanna go on a mission with me!"

Saying something to Chouji softly, he rocked back onto his feet, and strolled towards Naruto. They walked down the steps, taking their time, and enjoying the sun while they still had the time.

"So you want me to come with you to get Tsunade? Why do you really need me?" Chuckling warmly, Naruto shook his head. He knew him so well…

"Well besides the fact we haven't had a bottle of Sake together since your 19th birthday, I need you to do something for me. At this very moment, Itachi is in Konoha, but we can't directly approach him, not yet. So what I want you to do before we leave is…"

Sounded like a plan to Shikamaru.

* * *

><p>Shikamaru watched the battle, maneuvering his shadows into the water, and letting them stretched under the fighting Shinobi. He was lucky that neither Kisame, Kurenai nor Asuma knew ANBU vibration codes, and Kakashi already knew who they were because it would be a lot harder to pass the message on. (Like Morse code) He moved the shadows onto the surface of the water, one of the inky black tendrils tapping the surface of the water in a patterned message. Itachi curiously slid his eyes down, catching the message. <em>"We know what really happened the night of the Uchiha Massacre. Meet us in Green Teahouse in Tanzaku four days from now."<em>

Itachi almost lost his composer, but straightened himself out before anyone could even see a quiver or a shake. Waving Kisame to retreat they fell back, leaving the three Jounin in the middle of the water battlefield. Shikamaru slunk away, heading back to his house to pack his stuff and leave. Meeting Itachi was actually more exciting then nerve racking. He had heard stories of the older Uchiha's brilliant mind for years, and he couldn't wait to test it out himself.

Finally stuffing the last of his things in a green travel backpack, he left a quick note to his parents, and sunk into the shadows, reappearing in the shade of a tree not far from the Konoha gate. Naruto was already there, but Jiraiya was nowhere in sight. Seeing as they had time, Shikamaru strode over to Naruto's side, taking a tight hold of the other boy's hand.

"I can't help but feel like this is way too easy." Naruto commented.

"That's because we've only been here for less then a month. What do you expect, the sky to start falling. Madara never even approached you until four years from now."

Nodding his head in agreement, it wasn't like the moment they came back they would go gallivanting into a battlefield. Konoha was safe and nothing was threatening it at the moment. The time would come when they would have to battle for their lives and for their people, but for now it was just baby steps. Naruto waved at Jiraiya who was walking towards them from the other side of the road. This was definitely going to be an interesting trip.

* * *

><p>Tanzaku never really had busy streets. It was one of the most populated towns in the North side of the Fire Country, but people tended to keep to the bars and casinos more then the sun and air. Of course there were tourists, but not many of them stayed too long outside, too tempted by the jingling sound of coins from slot machines, and the loud laughter and smell permeating through the walls of the bars. When Naruto first came here, he was so concentrated on getting the Rasengan to work and his training that he never got to enjoy one of Fire Country's most notoriously known cities.<p>

Now that Orochimaru was gone too, he could spend most his time enjoying himself. After all, he and Shikamaru wouldn't have that much trouble convincing Tsunade and even Itachi to go along with what they wanted.

Jiraiya, Shikamaru, and Naruto signed in at a hotel, leaving their bags in the room. Jiraiya excused himself to go do his research (pervert) and probably look for Tsunade at the same time. As for Naruto and Shikamaru, well a little site seeing wouldn't hurt. Itachi didn't arrive for another day, and Tsunade wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

"Oy, Naruto! Let's go to the top of the castles."

"No…I want to go inside."

"But it's better outside."

"You're just saying that because then you can just laze on the roof for hours."

"And what's wrong with that."

"Nothing if you like sleeping on the other side of the room tonight."

Shikamaru closed his mouth with a click. It was hard enough having to be away from Naruto since he had to live with his parents, and if he was going to spend his time with Naru… well that would be too troublesome to waste it. He let the smaller, blonde boy lead the way to a towering castle. The roof tiles were blue, and the walls were a nice cream color. The inside wasn't that different either. Inside, Naruto peeked past the intricately designed slide doors and walls, admiring the simple but elegant look it had.

"I want a house like this." Naruto mumbled. Was it so wrong for a person to want to live in a huge elegant house?

"No, you don't." Apparently, Shika thought so…

Grumbling under his breath, Naruto glared at Shikamaru. But his gaze soon softened at the excited gleam in Shikamaru's eyes. He really had changed since his genin years. Sometimes you wondered if it even was the same person at the end of the day.

"Naruto, let's go somewhere else. This place is a drag."

Chuckling at how the voice dragged out, he pulled him out to the streets. It was mid afternoon, but no one said it was wrong to hit the bar a little early, yeah? It didn't take long for Shikamaru to figure out where Naruto was leading him, but he didn't disagree. If there are two things that run in Nara blood, then it was laziness and a bad habit of going out drinking with friends. His dad was pretty much the perfect example.

They barged into the loud bar, catching the attention of a lot of people before they went back to drinking themselves half blind.

"Aren't you to young to drink?" The old bartender asked, cleaning down a small shot glass. His misty eyes flicked up to the Hitaite on their heads, nodding his head in apology. It was in fact legal for a ninja of any age to drink because the moment the graduated, the law declared them adults. Plus, if they could kill for a mission, drinking wouldn't be that much of a felony.

"Two bottles of Sake… each. And keep them coming if we're still standing."

* * *

><p>Tsunade was not happy. She had lost a lot of money at the casino earlier today, and she had lost Shizune in the casino crowd by accident, too. Seeing as they shared an apartment room anyway, she would meet up with her apprentice later tonight… after she had a drink. Gloomily walking towards a random bar, she heard commotion coming one street down. In all truth, she really didn't want to go over and see what was going on, but she kept on having this nagging feeling at the back of her heard. She made her way down the street, and pushed her way through a large crowd standing in front of the bar the noise was coming from. Looking around for the source, she was really surprised at what she saw.<p>

Two drunken boys dancing on a table.

Two drunken Konoha ninja dancing on a table.

And if that wasn't surprising enough, the things they were fighting about. Slipping into the closest open seat, she ordered a Sake from the bartender, and situated herself so that she watched the two boys go practically on the borderline of PDA.

"There on their fourth bottle." The bartender chuckled, catching the interest in Tsunade's gaze. "They came in about an hour ago, and let me tell you, I've never had so many customers in one night."

Ignoring the last part of the man's small talk, Tsunade took a gulp of her drink listening in on the not so private conversation that probably should have been.

"Why did I always have to bottom? I mean…I'm stronger, I'm the leader of the group, and… and… well that's all the proof there!"

Chugging down another glass, Shikamaru sluggishly looked over at Naruto who was swinging his hips, spilling Sake on the table they were standing on.

"Because I don't do _that_." He said pointing at Naruto's hip. "Plus do you see me on bottom. That's too troublesome."

He grabbed Naruto by the waist, brought him close and was about to kiss him.

But Naruto was Naruto, and he smacked Shikamaru in the face, giggling the whole time. Leaping off the table, he landed on the long seated table close to where Tsunade was. Bringing up his hand, he pointed at the Shadow boy.

"Molestation! He just assaulted the Hokage!"

He pointed at himself, hiccupping as he staggered across the long table, barely stepping over people's glasses and trays. He paused in his step, seeing a familiar figure sitting two chairs down from where he was standing. Swaying over, he plopped down on the table in front of her, his face flushed and his hair wet from sweat. Tsunade just stared at him, amused at the other blonde and slightly amazed that he was still standing after all that alcohol. "Brat, what do you want."

Meeting her gaze, she stared back suspiciously when she saw his eyes sharpen.

"I want to make a bet."

Already pissed at being challenged by a cocky, short drunk, she got up from her seat, ready to leave.

"Unless you're feeling unlucky…Tsunade."

She stopped her retreat, and retracted her hand from the knob on the door. She twisted around, now faced with two drunk but somehow partly alert boys. Nodding her head to the right, they made their way to the empty table in the corner.

"What do you want?" Tsunade repeated, but with more firmness in her voice.

Naruto rested his head on the table, his bloodshot eyes staring intently at her.

"We're are here with Jiraiya. We'll let him explain in detail, but Konoha is asking you to be it's new Hokage, and while Id gladly take that position for myself, I'm still not strong enough or have the trust of the village." Naruto said seriously, but apparently Tsunade didn't quite agree with the last statement. "As if you're strong enough. No one but a fool would want to take that job. You're just another idiot who doesn't have the potential to take that job, and you'll die long before you even sit in that stupid old chair. And what makes you think I'll agree."

Shrugging his shoulders he leaned back in his chair, letting Shikamaru have the floor. We don't, but for now, go talk with Jiraiya. He'll tell you what you need to know."

Tsunade snorted. As if she was going to listen to a bunch of brats. Seeing the rebellion and disagreement showing in her eyes, Naruto leaned across the table.

"I know I can be Hokage. It's my dream, and I don't give up in what I believe in. I'll make a bet with you. If I can land a punch on you, then you'll come back to Konoha with us."

Searching his face, Tsunade had to back glance away at the strong glare he was sporting. She obviously rubbed him wrong with the last comment.

"Fine. And if you do land a punch on me, I'll give you my necklace. But not tonight." She didn't let them respond, leaving the bar to spend time alone. Shikamaru and Naruto grinned cheekily and how easy that was. When you're holding most the cards, it's a hell of a lot easier to solve your problems. Letting their minds go fuzzy again, they drank a few more bottles. They couldn't even recall how they got back the apartment.

Jiraiya was a pervert down to the very last cell in his body. It was just he way he was ever since he was a young genin. He'd seen a lot of sexy, naughty, and kinky. He'd seen a lot of hot, nosebleed worthy and pervert inducing stuff, but this took the cake. Okay so it was a little weird since they were both guys, but that didn't stop Jiraiya from giggling as he took a picture. Blackmail, inspiration for his next novel… Who cares but this was for? But it was definitely a Kodak moment. Shikamaru and Naruto, both their shirts and two empty Sake bottles discarded to the side, were tangled around each other. The sheets were slightly kicked off, only showing the top half, so if you didn't know that they still had pants on…well that would make it even funnier. Nudging Naruto with his foot, Jiraiya shook him awake.

"Kid, wake up. We've got to go find that lady I was talking about."

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he blushed at the slightly perverted shine in his teacher's eyes. Pulling Shikamaru's arms from around him, he nodded quietly so not to wake up his partner. Signaling for him to wait in the hall, Jiraiya left in a huff at being dismissed by the brat. But he couldn't help but smile when his student covered the other boy with the sheets before tugging on new clothes. Before Naruto left the room to go with his old perverted teacher, he scribbled a note down and set it next to Shikamaru. No use having to waste time when they could get two jobs done in one day.

* * *

><p>When Shikamaru woke up that morning, he had a killer headache. Naruto was probably already up and about since he had amazing healing skills and all. Rubbing his head gingerly, he popped a few pills he had stashed in his travel bag. Noticing the note lying innocently by the bed, he picked up.<p>

"_I guess you get to enjoy another one on one with an Uchiha. Don't go easy on him because he's smart enough to where you don't have to. I'm taking care of Tsunade so good luck with Itachi. Love you_

_ Naruto_

Smiling at the last words, he felt his hangover slowly start to ebb away. Pulling on a new set of clothes, Shikamaru retied his hair and jumped out the window. Hopefully this would all go smoothly, but you never knew…

Shikamaru spotted the teahouse not far from where he was walking. Going inside, it didn't take him long to spot the familiar red cloud robe. Itachi was sipping on a cup of tea, calmly waiting for him to approach. Itachi looked everything and nothing like the older version of Sasuke. Personally, Shikamaru already knew he would enjoy this Uchiha's company over Sasuke's, but that was if he could convince the man to join them. Seating himself across from the older Uchiha brother, he pulled out a Shogi board, setting it up in less than ten seconds. Settling back down, he let Itachi have the first move.

"I assumed there were two of you." The first piece was moved forward.

"You're correct, but he couldn't make it." Another piece was moved.

Both geniuses conversed softly, spending most the time in complete silence. There wasn't any threat nearby, and the conversation was easy and simple. They let the game progress, small talk seeping in between each move. Shikamaru never had a harder opponent. Back and forth pieces were taken and moved. It was a battle of pure intelligence and strategy, something both of them excelled at.

"We know you're only a spy."

"Is that right."

"We'd like you to help us."

"I can't join Konoha."

"We know that."

The game ended on that note… with a stalemate. Looking up from the board, Itachi tilted his head to the side in question, but displayed no emotion.

"Keep Akatsuki away from Konoha and Naruto Uzumaki for as long as possible. We cannot tell you exact details because frankly, only three other people know and it wouldn't do spreading information to every person who helps us. One day, maybe… but for now, will you trust me?"

Itachi scrutinized the younger boy, but something in that stare… It was the same stare that looked back at him when Itachi looked at his own reflection. And he couldn't help but extend his hand to shake the other boy's firmly. With that final gesture, he disappeared in a gush of wind, leaving Shikamaru to sit back and finish his tea. It took four hours for the match to end, but they got him. Mission: Get Itachi…Success. And knowing Naruto, Tsunade was already packing her stuff. Kicking his feet onto the table, he looked up at the wood ceiling. They would probably head back to Konoha tomorrow, and then it was back to training.

"I guess the next step is training our friends, too."

_This will be the hardest part…_ Shikamaru slumped slightly at the thought of having to teach his 'former' comrades. _Well no way to avoid it…_

* * *

><p>Sorry it took me so long to update. I was sick for three days and normally that would mean more time in front of the computer, but I was completely conked out the whole time. I had a shit load of work to make up from class, too. But I finally got it in. Thank you for waiting 4-5 days. I hope you enjoyed! Review!<p>

Chapter Seven: Training


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: Training

This chapter took me a little longer to get the plot juices flowing. I actually had the entire story pretty much mapped out in my head, but recent events have changed my mind. I'm having a hard time figuring out how the story should go to fit the new ending… well I've still got a lot to go anyway.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does… But if I did own it, that would be really cool. I own all OC mentioned in the story though! Enjoy ^_^v

* * *

><p>Naruto sat in the middle of his room. The sheets on his bed still intact, he sat cross-legged on the wooden floor with his eyes half lidded. His shadow clones had finally finished fixing it up; the cockroaches were gone, and wall cracks plastered. Not to mention the entire place was no longer polluted with ramen cups and snacks scattered everywhere. In short the apartment looked like it was made yesterday. Naruto would rather live outside then in the fowl stench that permeated through the walls of his living space. But it was good to be living in an actually place instead of an underground base.<p>

But his eyes were set on his window, a thoughtful expression on his face. His hand was clutching the necklace given to him by Tsunade not but three days ago. He watched it sparkle and shine, provoking more thoughts to jump into his already jumbled head. His blue orbs darkened with concentration. Closing his eyes, he let his mind wander back to the previous day in Tanzuka.

_(Three Days Ago)_

"Hah! Who do you think you are! Like I'd want to sign my own death wish! What makes you think I'd be a good Hokage!"

Naruto stood next to Jiraiya, both of them in the middle of a barren field with Tsunade and Shizune, who was standing a little farther off. Shizune held Tonton tightly a hug, a worried and distressed expression clearly visible on her face. Her eyes kept darting from her master, to her master's old teammate, and then to her master's old teammate's apprentice. Jiraiya had an easier time finding his teammate after Naruto had talked to her. She wasn't really avoiding him and it helped a bunch with Orochimaru gone. The problem was that they actually kind of needed Orochimaru to convince her. Plus Naruto wasn't the same enthusiastic kid she met first time around. Sure he had the same qualities… But it still wasn't the same. Tsunade had only snapped back into her senses when Orochimaru and Kabuto had confronted her. He knew what he was about to do was kind of under handed, but there was no other way.

"I _can_ land a hit on you! And I _will_ be Hokage! Get ready, you old hag!"

He immediately sent several shadow clones towards her, each one flying at every angle. Tsunade had not fought in a while, but she was still able to easily punching the clones out of the fight when they got within arms length. She smirked at how easy this fight was going to be, but cringed at how low she was stooping. Was she actually fighting a _genin _just to win a bet? Shaking the thought out of her head, she concentrated on the cloud of smoke that surrounded her. But this did not deter her.

Sprinting forward, Naruto let her believe he was aiming for a direct hit, but just as her fingers moved to his forehead; he leaned back and avoided her fingers by mere centimeters. He could easily grab her hand and kick her in the stomach at that moment, but instead, he grabbed a kunai. In one quick motion, he slashed into his hand and a streak of blood splashed onto her now stunned face. _Wow, Kabuto actually influenced me in a positive way… That's a Kodak thought._

Tsunade stood paralyzed, a drop of blood rolling down her forehead, and onto her paling cheeks. She didn't shake, and she didn't even whisper a sound. She just stood still, her eyes glazed and tormented by past memories. Naruto had forgotten how broken Tsunade had been before she came back to Konoha, and it hurt him inside that he had to be the one to have done that to her.

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune moved to help her mentor, but was blocked by Jiraiya's extended hand. He glared at her evenly, warning her of the consequences that would follow if she were to come any closer. At the same time he hoped that Naruto's newly found strength also applied to his mind because this could make or break it. One slip up, and not only could Naruto really hurt Tsunade, and they would lose the Hokage candidate. There really weren't that many choices for Hokage and Tsunade would definitely be an asset to the village what with the Sandaime being too old to take care of the village properly.

Naruto would have to go a little out of character with this, but if it got Tsunade out of her fear, then it would be way worth it.

"Tsunade. Listen to me. You have lost many people, and it hurts. The pain is like breaking a bone, it throbs, and it will be tender for a long time, but… Your precious people didn't die for nothing. They died because they were helping the world become a better place. I'll admit, one day I will die, but it will be after I've accomplished what I need to do. To be Hokage, that is my dream."

Tsunade dropped to the floor, shaking as she eyes squinted together in pain. Naruto knelt beside her, his white sleeves stained red from the blood he was wiping off her face.

"And any true shinobi of the Leaf would feel the same. Konoha needs you. Not because you're the last person we could choose, but because you're one of the first. You need to be Hokage, so you can take care of the village until I'm older and stronger. You're a precious person, and I'd be honored to serve you. And I'm sure you would have done the same to the people you loved who also wanted to protect Konoha."

Her eyes where covered by her bangs, drawing a curtain around her emotions from the rest of the world. Naruto waited, his heart beating slightly faster with the suspense. Shizune and Jiraiya both waited with baited breath, and hopes/fears flying through their heads.

Then in a rush of motion, Tsunade grabbed the front of Naruto's shirt. He closed his eyes, waiting for the pain to come, but all he felt was the sliding of fabric on his head, his golden hair brushing against his bare forehead and a pair of lips softly touching the top of his head. He didn't need to hear a thank you from her because this was more then enough. The fears of his mother figure not being beside him this time around vanished, as her lips pulled away, and she looked him dead in his eye.

"I admit that you didn't even have to land a hit on me to make me lose my bet, but the blood thing was kind of over the top."

Naruto's brow creased in confusion at the strange glee mixed in her expression, but he found out seconds later.

_(Present)_

He was kind of expecting it in the end, but he didn't think she'd hit him that hard. He was knocked out for two hours and the headache was so bad, Kyuubi had a difficult time healing the pain away. But in the end, the pain was nothing compared to the joy he felt with Tsunade walking beside him.

They made it back to Konoha immediately, and Naruto had already gotten the quick report on Shikamaru's meeting with the eldest Uchiha brother. But his thought were not primarily concentrated on the plan, but on Konoha.

His fingers rubbed the blue jewel in his hand, thinking about everything it stood for.

"_I am…was Hokage and yet I've forgotten about what was most important. It's true that none of our friends are the same, but they are still the same person deep down. I can't rush into this without helping them… They are the reason I came back, and it would be like spitting on their future selves' graves if I don't do all I can do for them."_

Naruto had spent so much time with only two people beside him; he had forgotten what being Hokage was truly about. "It's not about taking revenge and defeating your enemies. It's about protecting the people you love from your enemies."

They had all helped him so much before they died. He was just going to return the favor…

* * *

><p>"That punch wasn't even close to strong! Unless you're making earthquakes then it sucks!" yelled Naruto through gasps of air. He was now the same height as Sasuke, both of them doing chin ups next to each other on a long straight branch. Naruto knew if they played their cards right, Sasuke would stay in Konoha even if he felt the urge to go after Itachi. Naruto was also aware that Sasuke was not only a fast learner, but he had raw talent. They could easily train him to be strong just as fast as when he was with Orochimaru. If anything, that snake-bastard slowed down Sasuke's progress.<p>

Naruto peered down at the flustered and frustrated female under him. Sakura was punching the tree next to them, but was only leaving scratches on her knuckles and not the wood. Looking back now, Naruto wondered how his friend-ish rival had so much patience with Sakura. They ability levels were so uneven what with Sakura probably the weakest person in the Konoha 12. Okay so maybe she could take down Lee, but that was only because he was on crunches and going through immense physical and emotional pain. _Definitely need Tsunade to take care of Sakura, and to get her away from Sasuke. _The only thing Naruto could really do for Sakura was to steer her away from Sasuke. Naruto knew more then anyone else that Sasuke was so damaged inside that even if he wanted to, he couldn't love someone, and Sakura really needed someone good for her.

"Dobe, get back to work."

_He's still a bastard._

Flipping off the branch, Naruto rubbed his sore muscles and gave a huge grin at his working teammates. "Let's go check on the others! Kaka-sensei and the other sensei should be back soon, anyway!"

Not waiting for a response, Naruto bolted through the trees and burst through the brush surrounding the training ground where all the other teams were gathering. Sasuke wasn't too far behind who was followed by Sakura. Naruto felt a lot lighter inside; a little bit like he used to be. It was stupid of him to ever think there would ever be a huge gap between him and his precious people. And maybe in a few years, the barrier he and Shikamaru had to keep up wouldn't even be needed.

"Naruto! Look at this cool weapon Tenten's dad made!" Chouji yelled, spitting half chewed chips out of his mouth. He waved the blonde boy over, a huge grin plastered on his face. They stood separate from the rest of the group that were standing closer to the center of the training ground. Tenten held up a metal pole in her hand. It looked completely normal; smooth, shiny and cylindrically based. But looking closer, he saw almost invisibly small lines marking the top half of it.

"Watch this! My dad really wasn't going to finish this, but he felt like it the other morning while he was walking through the village. He said not a lot of new types of weapons are made now a days, since ninjas stuck to the originally based weapons."

Getting into a fighting pose, Tenten faced the tree across from her. Charging straight for it, she swung the pole at the base of the tree. When the pole was only inches from the bark, she retreated slightly which caused spikes to flip out of the lines and connect with the bark. It tore it to pieces; sap seeping out of the wood like blood from a wound. The pole's spikes slipped back into the base, looking innocent and harmless like before. Naruto snapped his head back and forth between the pole and the damaged tree.

_I fucking need that weapon… It's so kickass!_

Tenten stood proudly by the tree, and was about to start explaining how it was made, but a dust cloud started to accumulate not from them. Neji sighed from his perch on a tree stump before he straightened his shirt. "Here comes Gai-sensei."

Bringing what looked like a massive dust storm, Gai appeared with several boxes strapped to his back. Asuma, Kurenai and Kakashi, who were having a little more trouble caring their boxes, joined him moments later. Kurenai wiped the dust from her dress, stepping forward and facing everyone.

"Alright everyone! Gather up! First things first, the coronation for the new Hokage will be in a week, so don't forget. Next, we all thought that you handled the invasion quite well, but Kakashi brought up an excellent point. We might have been training you a little easier then we should have, and all ninja, including genin, should be well prepared for those kinds of things like the invasion. This is a ninja village, after all."

"YOSH! That is why, my youthful students, you will all be wearing weights! It will strengthen your body and soul until you are bursting with flames!" Gai exclaimed. He picked up one of the boxes from the ground, spilling the contents on the grassy floor. The material inside looked like an endless stream as it started to spill into a huge pile. (Mary Poppins Box) The other teachers followed suit, pouring the stuff from the box in front of them. The genin (minus Naruto, Neji, Sasuke and Shikamaru) gaped at all of the weights lying before them. There were leg weights, arm weights, stomach weights, and random strap weights for whatever body part you needed more strength in.

"You've got to be kidding me! Some of those weights look like they just made a dent in the ground!" Kiba yelled which was joined in with a yip from Akamaru.

"It's okay, Inuzaka. I'm sure they have a few one pound weights for you." Naruto teased.

He ducked a punch thrown his way by an embarrassed dog user.

"I dunno Naruto! Maybe those are actually for you! I bet I can carry more weights then you can!" He roared back, but Naruto could obviously hear the friendly competition that was actually lurking between the words.

"The hell you can!" Both charged at the piles, yanking on the weights for their arms, legs and torso. Gai cheered at the two students enthusiasm, which encouraged the others to follow suit.

Kakashi began to give out directions to them on different exercises while Asuma showed them how to get into the positions. Half listening, Naruto leaned towards Gai, and softly spoke so as not to distract anyone.

"How's Lee doing. He heard he's having a hard time adjusting to the crutches."

Gai's eyes darkened at the mentioning of his favorite student's condition. Sighing he sadly smiled. "He is doing well. I can only hope that Tsunade-san would be able to help restore his flame. He is very eager to fight and train with you. But for now, join the others in this spring-time youthful exercise!"

Pushing Naruto to his teammates, he gave him a thumbs up and a wide sparkling smile that sparkled. Naruto nodded his head agreement before he jumped onto Shikamaru's back. Shikamaru buckled under all the weight that was now added onto the blonde. Naruto was sprawled over Shikamaru who was lying on his stomach. You could hear the muffled words that sounded vaguely like '_What a drag' _which caused everyone to brighten at the scene.

Naruto rolled off of Shikamaru, helping him up. They both joined Hinata in a light jog around the field, while watching the others do various other activities. The jog was tiresome, but they were all silent which made it easier and more comfortable.

But the laughter was broken by all of them as they witnessed Ino and Sakura trying to lift a two hundred pound sand bag between them. Their faces were red, and even though the bag was off the ground, it looked like they couldn't even move.

"Well it's a start." Shikamaru said to his giggling jogging companions.

Kakashi was over with Chouji and Kiba who were working on their stances, while Sasuke and Neji were with Asuma who was discussing specific weapon choices while they balanced on wooden stands. Kurenai was with Tenten and Shino but they soon disappeared into the forest so they couldn't tell what the black-haired shinobi had planned for them.

"Where's Gai?" Naruto asked once they finished another lap.

Hinata looked around, trying to find the Green Monster, even turning on her Byakugan. Turning her head to look behind her, she shrieked in surprise and started to race past Naruto and Shikamaru. They both looked at her strangely, confused at what brought on the terror. Twisting their heads behind them, there eyes landed on the most horrific sight.

"Hell to the no!" Shikamaru was a blur that was closely followed by Naruto as they ran with Hinata.

Behind them was Gai holding three extra green, spandex suits.

"Hahaha! These suits will improve your performance! Come join me in wearing the greatly styled and fantastic ninja outfit!"

Even Hinata was unashamed at refusing his offer.

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><p>Okay, so I've been a little busier with work at school. A least I made it in the five-day mark! I figured that I want this story to be really long; like in the one hundred thousands or close to that,, and I never realized till now how many factors a good story needs to include just to sound good. (Especially a Time Travel Story) Thanks for reading! Review!<p>

Chapter Eight: T&I


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: Torture and Interrogation

I can't stand it anymore! Every Friday, in every class, someone is singing Friday by Rebecca Black. I get its Friday! Geez… Nothing else to say; on to the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does… But if I did own it, that would be really cool. I own all OC mentioned in the story though! Enjoy ^_^v

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><p>Naruto tugged on his clothes. Iruka's hand-me-downs were already too small for him, and it was getting harder to even wear them without ripping a seam or something similar. The sleeves were still a decent length, but it was tighter around his biceps. He considered taking up a side job out of Konoha, but he didn't think it would be smart to be outside of the village and displaying his skill. He had been saving up money to buy clothes, but between paying his landlady an unfair amount of money, food, and some more shinobi material, he didn't even have enough to buy a pack of socks. He was starting to look a little like he did before, the baby fat gone from his face. He even saw a barely visible scar start to form on his stomach from a fight during the war. Unfortunately, his shoes were too small now, which proved as a major problem since he couldn't fight barefoot. That was just plain stupid and painful.<p>

Naruto wrapped some bandages around his feet as makeshift shoes until he could find a new pair. Maybe Kakashi would lend him one of his pairs. Throwing around different ideas, Naruto locked the door to his apartment. He winced as he felt small pieces of rocks and glass dig into his bandaged feet. Kakashi's it was…

Naruto carefully stepped his way to his teacher's apartment. He mentally checked of what they had done so far in the past. Looking up at the sky, Naruto was contemplating whether or not he should go visit Iruka, because he hadn't even talked to his favorite sensei since the invasion. And at that time, he was covered in blood, and looking a mess. Yeah, he definitely needed to go visit him. He was a little concerned about the lack of communication going on between them and Gaara. Naruto couldn't help but feeling guilty that Gaara had to deal with this new start by himself. Naruto had Shikamaru, so he could talk normally to him, but Gaara didn't have anyone and he was all the way in Wind Country. Naruto was half hoping he would get a mission to Suna to go see his friend. They had been together so long, it was hard to be apart like this. He massaged his temples before trying to move onto a lighter subject.

It only took a few seconds for him to realize that someone was following him. Either they weren't good at spying or they wanted to talk with him without creating even the tiniest scene. Naruto went with the latter, and slowed down almost to a halt. He ignored the civilians that were bumping into him as he let his 'stalkers' mover him to where they wanted him. Turning his head, Naruto saw two jounin, and by the looks of their coats, they were with Ibiki. Naruto's mind raced, and concluded that he could only do what they wanted him to do. He'd rather not be whipped and then salted by the T&I because he ran away _suspiciously._ Then again, everyone in ANBU and the T&I thought everything was suspicious. Naruto often wondered if it was because both had the same headquarters where they trained and such, and the two just rubbed their secretive personalities against each other. By the looks of road path, Naruto knew that they were leading him to that very place. As Hokage, he had been there just as much as any other interrogator, but that atmosphere was always a little too thick with secrets and wariness for him to stick around for more than a day.

Headquarters was located behind the Hokage Monument where it was hidden by a maze of caves and boulders. It wasn't common fact where HQ was hidden. The only ways you could have known of its location was if you were close to the Hokage, a high ranking and respected shinobi or you were obviously a part of it. (ANBU and T&I) Already suspecting what the two interrogators were about to do, Naruto relaxed as he let a cloth slip in front of his eyes and one of the ninja take a hold of him. He knew his easy going behavior was strange enough compared to the loud boisterous fellow he was before, but he had a hunch that putting up the façade would be useless. Naruto wasn't going to give Ibiki or his sniffer dogs anything, but he also wasn't going to put on an act that Ibiki probably already suspected to be fake.

His body was jolted back into reality as the Jounin carrying him landed. He was grateful that that Shinobi had the courtesy to steady him and let Naruto take the blindfold off himself. In the back of his mind, he wondered if the man knew about the Kyuubi. Back when he was first elected as Hokage, he had discovered that many of the higher-ranking ninja recognized him past what he held in the bowels of his stomach.

Once the cloth was off, to his surprise, it was not Ibiki who was waiting for him, but Anko and several other shinobi. The ANBU were probably lurking inside, but Naruto was too smart to think that the spooks of Konoha wouldn't be watching from some dark corner. But this didn't deter Naruto at all. He was feeling kind of playful today, and this was just the situation to mess with some people.

"Long time no see, shitstain. I'm sure you remember me."

"Yeah… Proctor Number Two. The old hag that licks young kids."

Sputtering in outrage, her cool and collected face went out the window in a split second, a sadistic gleam in her eyes. "You're just as bad as your little pal! I hope you're having fun because I'm going to make this a hell of a time."

Naruto knew that was definitely not a good sign. They led him inside, passing through doors and rooms where random ninja were sprawled on a piece of furniture; most of them either twirling a weapon, cleaning it, or reading a scroll. Pushing him into a room with a mirror in it (Naruto was fully aware that it was double sided) he wasn't that surprised to see Shikamaru slouched sleepily on one of the chairs, a cup of hot tea in his hand. The door closed with a bang, and Shikamaru waved him over to the chair across from him.

"Shika! They invited you to the party, too?"

"Yeah. I was planning to stay home the whole day. They came seven this morning during breakfast saying that they needed me for something. Mom and Dad were fine with it, but I wouldn't budge. It was too much trouble. They pretty much picked up the damn chair and carried me here while I was still sitting in it."

Shikamaru flicked the edge of the teacup, which was part of the breakfast set his mother used. Setting it down on the table beside them, Shikamaru motioned for Naruto to place his hand on the table. Following Shikamaru's lead, Naruto leaned on the table, playing with a strand of hair and tapping his finger in code.

_I say we let them interrogate, but lead them in circles._

Shikamaru twitched his head in agreement, and propped his legs up on the table while they waited for whoever was going to come in first. It didn't take long for someone to step in, and by the looks of it, it was some rookie. The shinobi looked tense with concentration, which gave away the fact that there was probably a shit load of people watching from the other side of the mirror. Naruto and Shikamaru smiled at each other.

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><p>"Anko. Are you sure this is a good idea? Ibiki never really said what was specifically strange about these two. It woul…"<p>

"Shut up moron! The hell with what we don't know yet. Ibiki wouldn't tell me what happened when the Third killed Orochimaru, and I'm thinking its connected to his new obsession with these two fuckers."

Anko stood in the front, a crowd of ninja curiously peering at the two young genin who were sitting quietly inside. An ANBU in the corner nudged one of his squad members in the ribs. "I bet a thousand yen someone's going to be pounding on the door to get out even if we send in Gimka. He's still a rookie, but he could handle these kids. I'd give it a minute."

The other ANBU twirled a kunai between his gloved fingers without saying anything. He watched as Gimka stiffly walked into the room, and closed the door behind him.

"Two minutes."

Both ANBU were confident that they were right, but only one was going to win.

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><p>Gimka walked into the room, and closed the door. Gimka heard the door lock before he proceeded further into the dimly lit room. He was well aware of the probably growing crowd on the other side of the wall, but he tried not to let that bother him. Sliding into a seat that was across from the two young genin, he cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak.<p>

"Shikamaru. Is that the only earring you have? I mean I know it's the whole team thing, but you have another one somewhere."

Clearly ignoring the other man in the room, Naruto began to chat lively with Shikamaru.

"Of course I do. I guess it was too dark, and you were too drunk to see it."

Naruto saw the shimmer in his partner's eyes and knew very well where this was going. Pretending to get embarrassed, he turned his face red.

"How can you say that in front of someone else!"

"I love when you get shy."

The two continued to bicker, letting Gimka to try and cut in. The two looked just about ready to throw punches. Throwing himself forward, he thought he was preventing a fight. Yes, but he thought he was going to prevent a fistfight… not an oral one. Holding his hands against the two boys chests, he was squashed between them as they're hands locked around each other's necks and furiously kissed. Gimka was stuck right in the middle. Pulling him down with them, the two boys had no shame in letting their interrogator feel as uncomfortable as possible.

"Oh God! Let me out of here!"

Gimka tried his best to squeezed out of the tight grip he was tied in, but the two boys were too busy sucking face to 'notice' the barrier between them. Gimka really started to panic when the dark haired boy tugged on the blonde's shirt, and started to slip it up.

"NOO! Let me go! Sick bastards! Exhibitionists!"

Gimka shoved his way out of their grip, even going as far as adding chakra to the push. Naruto grabbed onto his ankles, but Gimka was so desperate that he didn't even notice his shoes being ripped off of his feet. Zipping across the room, he banged on the door, his shouts growing more desperate as Gimka heard loud moans from the other side of the room.

"PLEASE! Let me out!"

The door was swiftly unlocked, and the distressed rookie interrogator wasted no time in flinging it open and running to the showers. He'd been covered with blood before, gone through very painful things, but that was just…

Shikamaru and Naruto, satisfied with their work, high fived each other from their position on the floor; a slight smirk dancing on their faces. It took only two minutes to get rid of the first one. Naruto shook his head as he held the shoes in front of his face.

"I think his shoes will fit me, but I don't like the style… oh well!"

Shikamaru only sighed in disbelief as his lover tugged on the new shoes.

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><p>The room was filled with claps, protests of disbelief, and laughs at Gimka's reaction. Money was shifting around them like mission reports on a busy day. Anko stood angrily in front of the mirror. "These kids are good. Boar, get in there! They'll say something now!" Laughing manically, Anko sent a chill through the room. Yes, the snake girl was insane.<p>

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><p>Shikamaru really didn't feel like staying here that long. Naruto seemed to be doing just fine, but the dark room was making his tattoo burn a bit. Shikamaru had concluded that the mark activated every time the person was in his 'element'. Shikamaru specialized in shadows, and that's why it reacted in dark places. That meant that Naruto's could activate during any number of elements. His thoughts were interrupted when an ANBU with a boar mask slunk in. He was quiet, and quick and carried with him a small box similar to a medical kit. With a snap of his had, the ground rumbled before rough vines erupted from the ground and tied Shikamaru and Naruto head to toe. They struggled a bit, but stopped when the plant ropes grew tighter. The ANBU pulled out two needles with a light blue substance inside of it.<p>

"This is a truth serum. Not a very strong one, and it'll only last for a couple of minutes, but I won't need long."

Naruto's eyes darted to Shikamaru in worry. Usually truth serums tainted the chakra, and with both their abnormal conditions, he wasn't sure if the serum would work really well or not at all. His eyes followed the twinkling needle as it poked into a vein in his arm. The muscles around the needle tightened as the fluid was injected into his system. It was quick, and he could almost feel the warm flow going through his body before he went drowsy. He couldn't even pay attention as the ANBU injected Shikamaru, too. Boar stepped back and waited a few seconds before proceeding.

"Why is Ibiki so interested in you two?"

"We did something cool." Naruto slurred out. Even if he felt drunk, his mind was still sharp enough to know that answering indirectly was their best bet. His head lolled to the side, and he looked at Shikamaru who was strangely unaffected by the injection.

"What 'cool' thing did you do?" the ANBU asked sarcastically.

"We did a good job during the invasion."

"How so?" Boar was getting really impatient with the vague answers. It was almost like the blonde boy was doing this on purpose… but that definitely wasn't possible. He turned to the other boy, but was even more annoyed to find him fast asleep. He'd just have to deal with the idiot.

"We fought a strong ninja."

"What was his name?"

"It's a long name. I don't think I can say it at the moment."

The ANBU almost snapped, but got himself back into control. He closed his eyes before continuing. "Say the name."

Boar waited for an answer, but was met with now two sleeping boys. He calmly got up from the leaning position he was in, and released the boys from the vines. Glancing at the genin, he walked out of the room without a word. Everyone in the scope out quietly watched the ANBU leave the room, and even after he closed the door, they were still staring at the exit. Suddenly there was a loud boom followed by the ground shaking. Later they would hear from other people in Headquarters about an ANBU wearing a boar mask looking like he got beat by a genin. They had no idea how true the metaphor was.

Anko glared at the 'hostages' before she wiped invisible dust off her tan coat.

"Fine! I'll do it! Kami, can no one even interrogate two little genin!"

She stormed out of the room, leaving her other Shinobi to whisper and laugh about Boar's and Gimka's failure.

"Holy shit! These boys are good! They've got some potential that could be tapped here." One ANBU threw in. There were murmurs of agreement, and they stored this info for later, so they could speak to both Ibiki Morino and Touya Harashi, their head ANBU. The ninja in the concealed room turned their attention back to the interrogation room, which Anko had just entered. Without closing the door, she stormed over to Naruto and picked him up by the shirt, but a weighted doll wearing the boy's clothes and a blonde wig only faced her. Angrily throwing the dummy to the side, Anko was greeted by another doll, but imitating Shikamaru. She grew red in the face, and then slightly purple a few seconds later. The shinobi watching braced themselves for the hurricane of the year; their muscles tense and ready to dart for cover. Those closest to the double mirror didn't stand a chance…

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><p><em>(On top of the First Hokage's Head)<em>

Naruto and Shikamaru laughed at their morning. It was probably the funniest thing that had happened in a long time.

"Did you see Anko's face when we walked out the door! I thought she was going to summon her snakes on by dummy!"

Shikamaru had to hold his ribs because they hurt from laughing so much.

"Hey! How were you not affected by that shot? The only thing it made you do was fall asleep!" Naruto questioned. By the time Anko had entered the room, Naruto and Shikamaru had all their senses back and were waiting for the right chance to escape.

"Oh… uh I guess it just affects everyone differently." Shikamaru nervously responded. Naruto stared at him before leaping from his perch and tackling the other boy. He sat atop of Shikamaru, a concerned expression covering his face.

"There's something you're not telling me."

"Yeah."

"Tell me now. I order you to tell me or I might have to take drastic measures."

There was a playful tone in his voice, but it was mostly hidden behind the seriousness. Shikamaru shook his head and was about to answer, but a blast and a swirl of smoke appeared in the direction of the memorial stone. They both wasted no time on rushing in.

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><p>Oh no! Updated a little late! Sorry peeps! I actually finished it a few hours back, but I was too lazy to actually finish typing. But it's in now! I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you to everyone who is reading my story and I hope you enjoyed! Please tell me if you want me to add something into the fic! Review!<p>

Chapter Nine: Women


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: Women

Sorry I made yall wait. School has been kicking my ass to where I actually had to go to tutorials for once. It's hilarious to see my grades because it's all honors and AP classes, and everything is an A or B+ except math… which is a sad C+. Never thought I'd ever get a C in my life… damn my overconfidence. I over used my computer, and it went all frozen/weird and some of my files went MIA! And now I'm back after long hours of banging my computer on the metaphorical wall! Thank you for continuing to read the story! I love you all!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does… But if I did own it, that would be really cool. I own all OC mentioned in the story though! Enjoy ^_^v

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><p>Shikamaru shook his head and was about to answer, but a blast and a swirl of smoke appeared in the direction of the memorial stone. They both wasted no time on rushing in.<p>

The smoke turned out to be a huge dust cloud as they got closer. Shikamaru even had to cover his face to prevent the dust from entering his mouth and nose. Naruto skidded to a stop at the edge of the forest, fingering through a jutsu and creating a huge gust of wind. The area started to finally clear up, so Naruto squinted his eyes in concentration to see two figures in the distance. One was standing over the other, fist raised and ready to hit the other figure. Naruto, his protective side surfacing, sprinted forward and caught the fist as it was coming down. He could feel one of the bones in his hand crack as he grabbed the appendage, but was too concerned with the situation at hand. (pun wasn't intentionally intended) Focusing on the two faces by him, he knew that by the end of the day, the cracked bone in his hand would be the only thing not screaming in pain. Standing in front of him and behind him were none other then Tsunade and Sakura.

"Naruto! You idiot! I'm trying to train."

Sakura, who was laying on the floor, swiped her leg towards Naruto, however was greatly surprised when Naruto not only dodged the kick, but sent an attack of his own. Clutching onto Tsunade's hand, he flipped himself over her, and in the process, slammed his foot right into Sakura's chin, and pulled some hairs off of Tsunade's head. Living with two guys for quite a few years, it was easy to forget some of the most important rules when dealing with a girl or woman. Don't leave harm to their face, and don't mess with their hair.

Naruto shook the blonde strands from his hand, but stood completely still as silenced covered the premise. His eyes turned to the left to see Shikamaru slowly backing away mouthing something that looked like _You're on your own._

Mouth dropping open as Shikamaru dashed away from the scene of the crime, he was barely able to dodge the well-aimed fist soaring towards him.

"Brat! Come back here so I can pull some out of that thick skull of your's!"

Naruto almost tripped over his two feet as both females rushed forward, probably with every intention to comatose. While running backwards and watching his teammate and Hokage, he was glad he interrupted when he did. In a way he was lucky, because even though Sakura wouldn't stand a chance by a long shot, having her tired would decrease the chance of her really getting involved in the fight. That meant that Naruto wouldn't have to focus that much on his pink haired teammate and instead would be able to make a quick escape away from the one and only slug princess.

Ducking another swing from Tsunade's fist and flashing out of view when Sakura threw a few Shuriken, Naruto high tailed it out of the training area. He could still hear the faint sounds of their footsteps behind him, so taking a chance, Naruto took a sharp turn to the right and dived into a river flowing only a few yards away from his original path. Naruto swam towards the deeper part of the river, and held onto the bottom, so that he wouldn't float back up. He bent his head up, and watched for any sign of Sakura and Tsunade. Two shadows looked down at the river a few seconds later, and even though Naruto was running out of air, he clammed his hands over his mouth to prevent the bubbles from escaping. When the two figures disappeared from view, Naruto quickly pushed off the ground and sped towards the surface. But just as he was half way to the top, Naruto felt a burning pain on his back, and a blue glow filling the water world. Flapping his feet and arms desperately, he broke the surface. Naruto coughed and shook the water out of his ears while trying to see his back. He tugged on his shirt, but found no signs of damage or burns on the material. Dragging himself on shore, Naruto flexed the muscles in his back, and twisted his arms to feel the skin and muscle on his back that ached. The skin wasn't even raised from irritation. Naruto sent a wave of chakra through the forest to see if he had been caught off guard by an enemy ninja from his vulnerable position under water, but there wasn't one around… at least not one that he could see. Backing away from the river, he headed back to the main part of the village, his eyes cautiously combing through the trees even as he sped by. Naruto often wondered about how much space was contained inside the walls of Konoha. If you weren't native then you probably would have thought you were running through the forest surrounding the Hidden Leaf, but it really was astonishing how large Konohagakure was. Concentrating on the matter at hand, Naruto leaped above the trees, and gracefully on top of a thin electric pole on the side of a bustling street. Flipping his way down to the ground, Naruto lightly landed in front of a store window, and checked out the back of his shirt. Besides the fact that he was still damp from the river, there was nothing abnormal about his clothes. Naruto decided to head back to his apartment to check it out considering lifting you're shirt in public was a little bit too weird for the Leaf populace, even with people like Kakashi hanging around everyday.

Spinning on the heals of his feet, he felt his hand slap into something, the distinct sound of liquid splashing on another surface and a dainty gasp. _Not again…_

Squeezing his eyes shut as if to will it away, he carefully opened his eyes to inspect the damage he had done. There in front of him was none other then Ino. Her mouth was wide open in shock, and her thin fingers inspecting the dark stain that covered the front of her purple shirt. Naruto's eyes bugged out as he took a closer look at those fingers. _Damn…_

Naruto, after glancing at Ino's long, glimmering nails, dashed away just as her hand swung around to his face. Her eyes that were usually bright and cheerful now hid some kind of ferocious beast. _Double Damn…_

From the look in Ino's eyes, Naruto knew better then to stop and reason with her, so after yelling a hasty apology, Naruto zoomed in the opposite direction.

"Naruto! Get back here so I can beat the money out of your pockets! I just got this shirt cleaned!"

Making his way threw the maze of people in the street, Naruto mentally slapped himself when he saw Sakura and Tsunade not too far in front of him. Cursing his bad luck, Naruto twisted into an ally to avoid crashing into the other two females. How is it that in less than three hours he was able to get the four most irritable and infamous women in Konoha to be after him. (Anko, Sakura, Tsunade, Ino) Not to mention the fact that Shikamaru bailed on him, but then again, Naruto could count on his brown haired lover with anything but women. Making it to the other side of the alley, Naruto turned the corner and leaned on the wall behind him so he could catch his breath. Searching the area for anyone who wanted to beat the shit out of him anytime soon, he stepped out in the open and made his way to his apartment.

Naruto's stomach growled half way to his apartment, and even though there were more pressing matters like the weird burning feeling on his back and avoiding the opposite sex, it wouldn't do to starve over it. Seeing as Ichiraku's was back on the previous street he had just ran from, Naruto had to settle with something else today. Brushing some of his hair out of his blue eyes, Naruto walked into the nearest restaurant, which looked pretty new. Looking around, Naruto vaguely remembered entering this place once was Hokage since he had felt that he should meet a lot of the owners and merchants. He couldn't remember exactly what he ordered, except for the fact that it was really good and he promised himself that he would come back again.

Heading towards the closest table, Naruto backtracked when he saw none other then Hinata Hyuuga sitting at one of them. Hinata was too sweet of a girl to attack him, so Naruto felt no need in avoiding her like the plague. What was the worst that could happen right?

"Yo Hinata! It's been a while! Mind if I join you for a meal?"

Hinata's head snapped up, her face was frozen in shock and embarrassment. It took her a bit, but she was able to stutter out a quiet yes which Naruto had to lean in to hear. Jumping onto the seat across from her, Naruto waved over a waiter and ordered the special for the day. Naruto grabbed the hem of his shirt, airing it out since parts of his top were still damp from earlier.

"So Hinata, what have you been up to?"

"Nah- uhh well um N-naruto…"

Hinata was pretty sure that if her face got any redder, she would permanently stay that way. Her eyes were pretty much locked with Naruto's tan and muscled chest. Ever since the invasion there were lot of things different about him… a lot of them not so bad.

Sinking into the seat even more, she couldn't hear Naruto's voice over the pounding in her ears. Before she even knew it, Naruto was right in front of her; hand placed on her forehead and brow creased in concern.

"Hinata are you okay?"

"N-never better." Hinata promptly fainted, falling out of her chair in the process.

"Hinata! Oh no what's wrong with you! I forgot she used to get sick a lot when she was younger!" (Years later and he still didn't figure that one out)

Scooping the Hyuuga into his arms, he slapped some money on the table and rushed out of the restaurant. Between the sore spot on his back, the fact he hadn't eaten anything since the early morning and being chased by several angry females definitely made Hinata feel a bit heavier then she should have. Unfortunately Naruto didn't get too far before he caught sight of his three pursuers. Slowly turning the other direction, tried to ignore the stares he was getting from some of the civilians, and prayed that none of them would accuse him of bringing the Hyuuga to his "den" where he would either convert her into a demon or eat her.

"Hey! There he is!"

Heart skipping a beat, Naruto knew that if he was ever going to survive this one, he was going to have to do something a little less _their Naruto_. Pretending to drop Hinata in shock, which was hard because he didn't want to hurt her, he let Ino, Sakura and Tsunade come in closer to him before running away. One of them would have to stay behind to take care of Hinata, so he would only have to deal with two.

"Get back here you little shithead!"

Naruto looked up onto the rooftops to see none other then Shikamaru sprinting away from Anko who looked a little more then just furious. Ino and Tsunade weren't that far behind him, so taking a chance, he grabbed a large jar from the side of the street, and chucked it at Shikamaru (an eye for an eye). Caught off guard, Shikamaru slipped off the roof, and into the middle of the busy street… and right on top of Ino.

"EEEWWW! Shikamaru you pervert!"

Wincing at the sound of a slap, Naruto disappeared into a swirl of leaves and into his apartment. Naruto would have found the whole situation hilarious if it wasn't for the fact that he was the victim in the story. Convincing himself that Shikamaru could take care of himself, Naruto jogged into his room and in front of his mirror. Wrestling his shirt off, Naruto threw the top onto his bed and twisted around so that his back was facing the mirror and his head was turned to see it. Both his eyebrows raised at the vine like tattoo making up a portion of his back.

_This must be the mark that those Gods were talking about… Wait a minute! There was a glow when I was probably got this, and that was similar to that time during the invasion. Shikamaru had a green glow coming off of him!_

Naruto was a little bit more then just confused. If Shikamaru did have the mark, then why would he keep this from him? It wasn't that big of a deal to just say 'Hey I have a mark on my back that was probably from the gods'. And if Shikamaru was hiding it, was that the secret like air he picked up coming off of the other boy on the Hokage Monument. Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Naruto tugged his shirt back on, and pulled out some scrolls. There were other problems to solve like the Akatsuki and Madara. And while he had Itachi watching the Akatsuki and reporting to him, he still had to actually deal with them. No one in that group would ever even think about helping a shinobi that didn't have a scratch through his headband, which posed as a huge problem. While they still had up to two and a half years before Akatsuki even tried anything to the village, Naruto wouldn't just sit around and think it's all about Konoha's safety. There were other villages and demon containers that were hurt in the process, and there was no way that Naruto was ever going to let the world come even close to being what it was after Madara was done with it. Even if that meant doing something he never thought he'd ever have to do. If Shikamaru was going to keep secrets, then so was he.

* * *

><p>"Gaara why don't you get rid of the gourd!"<p>

Gaara slammed the door to his new/ old office in attempt to keep his sister out. Using the gourd as an excuse for the burning pain in his back was a good idea at the moment, but Gaara had forgotten that Temari had always tried convincing him to get rid of the gourd and buy a new one… for several reasons.

"Gaara it looks like an oversized peanut! Not to mention don't you want a _new fresh_ start, and I doubt keeping that container is the way to do it! I'm not saying you shouldn't use one, I just think you should get a _new _one."

Not answering his sister, Gaara made sure that the door was locked and sat down in his chair. Glancing down at the bustling streets below, Gaara faintly smiled. It was good being a Kage again… stressful, but good. Gaara pressed his hands together in thought. He hadn't sent a message to Naruto yet, and it really was about time he did. Doing some research in the Kage library, he was able to find more about the tattoos. Apparently, they would activate when the body was either using chakra and near the natural body's element. It was hard to pinpoint was exactly Naruto's element was since his father and mother had two different ones, but if his assumption was correct, then Shikamaru had already gotten his on the first day. Rubbing his back, Gaara was considering the option of taking a very long trip to the Leaf and signing that Peace Treaty because the tattoo on his back was giving him major pains, and he still couldn't figure out of it was a temporary or constant thing. Will his body become more accustomed to the mark, and the pain would eventually fade away? Would it become stronger over time? The library in Suna wasn't as fortunate as the one in Konoha and could not provide the answers he needed. He knew that Shikamaru and Naruto were probably busy keeping their secret and looking up the Akatsuki to figure that out, so it was up to him. Fiddling with an ink brush on his desk, he rolled his chair closer to the window, and watched the people below. They were very cautious of him, but the murder attempts and angry glares mostly stopped except for the few that had a problem with the new leader of their village.

Unfolding a scroll, he started reading up on handless seals; something he never had the time to do before the war had began. Hearing a knock on his door, Gaara looked up and frowned.

"Come in."

The door handle jiggled a bit before Gaara remembered that he had locked the door. Sending a string of sand towards the knob, he turned the lock and let the person in. Kankurou shuffled inside, his face not yet painted in his usual designs, and his hair wet from what Gaara assumed was from a shower. Giving his older sibling a small smile, he motioned to the seat near the window, which Kankurou pulled up next to him. There was a strange look on his brother's face that looked like a mix of confusion and concern. Clearing his throat, his brother scooted the chair a little closer.

"Gaara, we need to talk. Now I know we haven't been the closest of siblings the past few years, but is there something you're not telling me? Don't get me wrong, I understand that the incident at the Leaf probably had a huge impact on you and all, but I cant help but feeling like there's something more to this. You don't have to tell me, but I just want you to know that I'm always here. And… yeah that's it."

Forehead creased in surprise, Gaara have a breathy chuckle before shaking his head.

"I will keep that in mind then."

Nervously smiling, Kankurou was about to say something else before he heard a scream of frustration come from downstairs. Chuckling to the sound of their frustrated sister, Kankurou waved to Gaara and exited the room. The visit was short, but Gaara couldn't help but feel like that day had gotten a whole lot better. It had been lonely lately, what with Shikamaru and Naruto miles away. It wasn't easy being away from the two people you trusted most. Being with his family was great and all, but he couldn't possibly tell them their secret. Closing the door with his sand, he walked over to his desk and took out some documents. Staring at them for a moment, his nose wrinkled in annoyance, before he grabbed a travel backpack and started to stuff supplies into the pockets. Striding towards the door, he poked his head out and turned to the ninja that mandated the desk across from his office.

"I'm heading to the Village Hidden in the Leaves to sign that peace treaty. Get me a team of ninja to go with me because we'll be leaving tomorrow morning."

Closing the door again, he grabbed a storage scroll and placed some documents and his research in the seal in there. Sure he needed a break from the constant ache, but he also really did need to sign that Peace Treaty some time soon, and finish the research on the tattoos. It also didn't hurt that he would be visiting his two best companions. So in a way, he was hitting four targets with one kunai… something like that.

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><p>Okay so I have one more day of school, and then summer. I know most of you understand the whole I have my own life and stuff, but I cant help but feel a little guilty for not updating a little sooner. For those who were with me since the beginning pretty much knew I was a moderately fast updater, and it was partly because I was lazy that I didn't get this chapter in a lot lot lot lot sooner. Thanks for sticking to the story and reading! Review!<p> 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: Reasons

Sorry for the long wait. I've kind of been avoiding this story a bit because I realized that I knew exactly how I wanted to end it, but no idea how to get there. I also realized that this story is most likely to become very long… or longer than I realized at least. Sometimes you wonder how other authors think up all their great ideas and make it all fit.

I wanted to ask a favor. I've been keeping in a huge idea a plot until a finish my other story. This is a question if you're a Naruto/ Harry Potter fan. Do you think Sasuke is capable of remorse even after all he has done, and do you think that George Weasley with Draco Malfoy would make great main characters for a N/HP crossover?

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does… But if I did own it, that would be really cool. I own all OC mentioned in the story though! Enjoy ^_^v

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><p>Naruto sat on the high ledge outside the mission room. It wasn't a strange place to be found just laying around; in fact Naruto had found Kakashi reading his book in the same spot numerous times before. It was just one of those places that screamed <em>leave-me-alone-but-I'll-still-be-here-if-you-really-need-me.<em> It was a really nice place to pick up information on all things going on outside and inside of Konoha. It was just common knowledge that the Mission Room was a steaming room of gossip, and no one knew that better than the Chunin that manned the desks at least five times a week.

It was on this specific morning that he overheard news of a red haired Kage from Suna coming to Konoha to finally sign the peace/alliance treaty. Well maybe not so much overheard as skillfully peaked at a letter. Even if the scroll was addressed to Tsunade, and that it was an official document that should have only been read by her, Naruto had taken it upon himself to help… sort her mail. It never said exactly when he was arriving, but Naruto assumed that it would be either today or the next day since Gaara always had a bad habit of sending the notice in close to the arrival. He had quietly set the scroll down in its original place before calmly jumping out the window, and then bolting towards the Nara Compound.

Naruto was still upset with Shikamaru, but not as angry as before. A week ago, he was ashamed to say that he had been thinking some very foolish things. One of the reasons he always had to practice calm and patience is because whenever he got too mad or emotional he did reckless things which were obvious by just remembering his childhood. An example of what he meant by reckless was four nights ago he had been tempted to construct an elaborate plan to take down the Akatsuki all by himself just to spite the shadow boy. He actually almost walked out the front gate ready to storm head on into Akatsuki territory, but reconsidered when he realized he was being very childish… and slightly Uchiha-like. Hanging out with Sasuke so much had probably caused him to catch the Uchiha disease which caused you to run off and do things on your own… even if it got you killed. Yes, very fatal, but Naruto had snapped out of it before he did something reckless. He'd get back at Shikamaru some other way… preferably something that wouldn't get him severely injured in the process.

Knocking on the front door, Shikamaru's mother answered it. After a few quick introductions, in which Naruto realized he had never actually met her before, she let Naruto into the house. He was led to a small, cozy dining room where Shikamaru and his dad were eating breakfast.

"Good morning. I'm sorry to bother you, but may I borrow Shikamaru?" Cursing himself for slipping into his usual mannerism after noticing their slight surprise at his politeness, Naruto silently watched as Shikamaru excused himself and followed him out the door. Neither male spoke a single word as they walked down the crowded streets. The habitually comfortable mood set in, but there was a tiny bit of underlining tension drifting underneath the calm, but both boys decided not to mention it. For now…

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><p>"Gaara! We missed you so much!"<p>

Naruto tackled the red-haired sand ninja in a tight hug. Shikamaru stood to the side, giving Gaara a warm smile, and waiting for Naruto to finish his hugging session. Naruto gave Gaara one last pat on the back before letting Shikamaru step forward, who gave him a quick hug, and a slap on the shoulder.

Gaara quickly waved off the escorts that had come with him, telling them to wait for him at the room they had rented. Gaara probably never looked better in his life. The black circles under his eyes had faded into a light purple, and he looked like he had probably grown a few inches since their last encounter. Moving towards a small teashop, they sat themselves at a back table, and ordered a few drinks. Naruto was enthusiastically retelling some stories to Gaara about their time in Konoha so far. Gaara listened, a happy shine in his eyes at finally being back with Shikamaru and Naruto.

"How've you been holding up at home?" Shikamaru said.

"Nothing much has happened. I've been doing some research, but we can talk about that later. It's relatively calm in the village, but I keep hoping that an Akatsuki member would just attack already." Shikamaru laughed at that, but still shook his head in disagreement. Taking a sip from the cup, Shikamaru looked at Gaara and Naruto in a stern and solemn way. "It's true that nothing will happen for another three years, but I strongly believe that some action is in order. It's a risk, considering any major steps we make right now will have us unable to predict the next move."

Seeing the conversation take a more serious tone, the other two boys sat up a little taller. Gaara hesitantly shook his head in agreement before turning his head to Naruto. The boy had a contemplative expression on his face; his eyes dimming with a sort of concentration and thought that usually happened when he was about to make a major decision.

"Shikamaru… Gaara, what have we done since we've gotten back?"

The other two friends gave Naruto a confused look, before answering.

"We've been training."

"Training because of what?"

"Training because we need to stop the Akatsuki and Madara. That's the whole point of going back in time, yeah?" Gaara stated.

"Exactly! So why are we waiting for them to make the first move? We came back in time to stop them correct? We came back in time to change things, and that doesn't mean we have to follow the same time frame set for us the first time. Why waste our time waiting for the enemy to strike first…"

"When we can take the advantage of doing that this time. Naruto is right. It's not just the three of us anymore. Our friends don't have the same strength, but Konoha is made up of hundreds of ninja."

Gaara swished the tea around in his cup, watching the leaves at the bottom of the container swirl. "We will no longer have a full advantage without prediction of the future, but that was bound to happen at one point or another. Maybe it's time that we not only train ourselves and our friends, but the shinobi who will fight alongside us."

"We technically lost against Pain and Madara because of lack of information, preparation and the surprise attacks. Back then, they also had Sasuke."

Shikamaru shot Naruto an annoyed look. "Yeah, but Sasuke could run off at any time again. As long as Itachi is playing secret hero, we only have a sliver of a chance at keep them both at our sides. If Sasuke tries to find Itachi, then Itachi will start running until the day that Sasuke could even scratch the surface of his skill."

Naruto closed his eyes in thought. It was probably the most intricate part of their plans. If Naruto was being completely honest with himself, than he would admit that if Itachi had had the medical care he needed to treat the sickness that had deteriorated his skill, body and eyesight, Itachi would be on par with all three of them when they were at their peak. Getting Itachi to agree and take some kind of treatment would at least take care of him to the point where he wouldn't be weakened so much as to turn into someone who was practically half dead.

"It's funny… Not only have we had this conversation many times before, but no matter what, an Uchiha always seems to be the biggest part of our plan."

They all sat in silence for a moment before giving snorts and chuckles of agreement.

"Anyway, we'll figure out what to do at some point. Talking about black-haired, red eyed males are giving me a headache. We haven't asked yet, but how are Kankurou and Temari holding up?"

"They are somewhat confused with my 'change of heart', but otherwise they couldn't be better."

They talked about their new/old lives, trying to fill in the gaps that had grown because of the land distance between them. They talked for a good few hours before Gaara looked at his tea cup one more time before pushing it away.

"Well, I have to go and sign some papers and make things official, but after that, we should grab some drinks. If Kakashi is around, try to get him to come too considering he's involved in this whole thing just as much as we are."

Gaara left quietly, and slipped back into the busy streets of Konoha. Naruto was fiddling with his cup and staring off into space when Shikamaru interrupted what seemed to be a growing tense silence; something they hadn't experienced since the day before they time travelled.

"Naruto, I can tell that there's something on your mind, and I learned that if I don't ask, I'll regret it later."

Looking over at Naruto, he suddenly realized that they hadn't talked that much the past week, maybe even longer. He knew they were busy with setting things up, and preparing, but that had never stopped them before. They always made time, and last time he checked, a war hadn't started.

"No, no there's nothing wrong… just a lot on my plate."

Shikamaru hummed an agreement under his breath before drinking the rest of his tea. Breathing a lazy sigh, Shikamaru leaned in closer to Naruto. He guessed this was the most appropriate time to bring the symbol up.

"Naruto, there's something I need to tell you. It's about the symbol on my…"

"Yeah, sorry about that. I'll fix your Shogi tile right away. I just got so mad when you won again."

Shikamaru's eye brows knitted together in confusion. They hadn't played Shogi together in a while, and Naruto was as calm as he was when they did play now a days.

"I see you young boys are enjoying some tea. May I join you?" _Ahh…_

Naruto and Shikamaru looked up to see the former Hokage stand at the front of their table. Shikamaru moved over next to Naruto so they could both sit across from the newly arrived Sarutobi Hiruzen. Shikamaru had to be completely honest with himself… he didn't even remember that the Sandiame was even alive. It wasn't like he didn't care or anything, but the Sandiame had been killed _way_ before the world started going to the pits, and the guy hadn't been really around lately. Besides the ANBU that crawled around to watch them, there really wasn't any real sign of him most the time. It made him wonder what the old man's role in the world was now that Orochimaru was dead, and that he was no longer Hokage.

"Long time, no see, yeah?" Shikamaru lazily said, hunching his back for affect.

"I do believe so. I do say it has been pleasant having my two pupils, Jiraiya and Tsunade, both back in the village. And at the same time, no less."

"Come on old man! I think the village is having a hard enough timing containing both the Pervy Sage and now a drunken leader… I could do better!"

There was a guarded look in Sarutobi's eyes as he talked to the two boys. Even if Shikamaru and Naruto could not recall what had happened that day during the Chunin Exams, it had still happened. Granted Sarutobi and the other shinobi didn't know exact facts, but the two boys were treading on thin water with the memory excuse. Now, Sarutobi was in no means manipulative; just a curious man that loved the village very much.

"I'm sure you could. You have improved greatly these past few months I must say. And Sasuke, too. Ever since the Chunin Exams both of you have been showing amazing progress."

Shikamaru had to thank himself and Sasuke just for a moment. Considering Sasuke had no involvement in the Time Travel Mission, as dubbed, he was unknowingly throwing off the Sandiame. No one could deny that Sasuke was an extraordinary Shinobi and was a very fast learner, so it was hard to ignore the youngest Uchiha when he was suddenly budding even faster (thanks to Naruto) after the incident with Naruto and himself. Shikamaru was a smart guy, and he could tell that the Sandiame thought Sasuke was involved. And with his usual attitude, Shikamaru hadn't shown any hard work or progress to the populace… in public. It was better when people knew less.

"Excuse me, but we need to be somewhere very soon." Shikamaru cut in. Apologizing to the former Hokage, Shikamaru calming walked out of the tea shop with Naruto. Both agreed that the old man was a little too curious for his own good. Walking down the street together again, Naruto strolled towards the park. Standing near a tree overlooking the playground, Naruto beckoned Shikamaru over.

"I didn't really realize that that was the secret, and I was upset because you wouldn't tell me. Don't be stupid to assume that I'd be bothered or am too busy."

After dealing Shikamaru a hit to the shoulder, and a bit of a tongue lashing, he then continued to explain to him about what had happened the other day when he jumped in to the water and his thoughts on it. They spent a good amount of time tossing ideas around to see what fit with the limited information that they had. It seemed that both of them had drawn just about the same conclusion about the symbols and their affects. Shikamaru nodded his head. "I guess it was kind of stupid to keep it a secret."

After a few moments, Naruto gave a heavy sigh before flipping out of the tree. It was four o clock in the afternoon already, and Naruto briefly wandered where all the time went. Most days felt pretty short anyway. Naruto guessed it was because they had spent quite a few years waking up to days that felt like they would never end. Shikamaru looked thoughtful for a second before walking back towards the main part of the village.

"I think happy hour is starting."

"Do you think we drink too much?"

What could they say? It was to make up for all the years of fun they lost.

* * *

><p>The owner of the new pub bar had been a little hesitant in letting in the Uzumaki kid. He would have thrown the kid out if it wasn't for the fact that he was an old friend of the Shikamaru Nara's father, and that the red haired boy looked like he was about to glare a hole into his head. At the start of the hour he had thought that the only good thing about this was that they seemed to be drinking a lot, but that changed pretty quickly. He definitely didn't expect to already have a full house an hour after happy hour. Even more unexpected was how happy and excited everyone seemed to be, and it all seemed to be centered on those three boys. Yes, the pub owner at that point could care less if Naruto Uzumaki really was the Kyuubi because for some odd reason the kid had a knack for attracting people. Maybe there really wasn't anything wrong with him because now that he thought of it, besides the pranks a year or two back, the kid had never really done anything horrific. Shrugging off the thought, the bartender continued to serve more drinks to the growing masses.

_If you want my body and you think I'm sexy__  
><em>_come on sugar let me know.__  
><em>_If you really need me just reach out and touch me__  
><em>_come on honey tell me so__  
><em>_Tell me so baby!_

Naruto loudly cheered the drunk shinobi on the stage. Naruto was pretty sure that if you weren't completely wasted, you would have been too embarrassed to even go up there. It was a good thing that Naruto was wasted because after giving Gaara a good whack on the back, Naruto jogged up on stage. He was about to sing when he spotted a familiar figure in the crowd and couldn't help himself.

"Alright ninja pals! I ain't gonna… um ain't gonna sing, but that lovely lady will!"

So why don't I rewind a few moments before. Kurenai was having a pretty bad day. She had spent most of it training on a new technique she saw, but after the third week of practicing, she was unable to perform it correctly. And to add more salt to the wound, Asuma hadn't been talking to her for whatever reason. In hopes of loosening up a bit, she went to the nearest bar. It was pretty much brand new, and it was made just for Shinobi from what she had heard. The wood was hard enough to withstand quite a few kunai and shuriken blows, and all the tables and chairs were connected to the floor since it was more likely for a ninja to start a fight in a bar more frequently than a civilian. Opening up the door, she almost jumped back when an onslaught of noise broke loose. She briefly wondered how she couldn't hear it ten yards ago and assumed that the owner had made the walls sound proof so as not to disturb the residents and people around it. The place was dim inside, but everyone inside seemed to be happy and alive… in a drunken way if anything. Sitting at an empty table, she ordered a bottle and a shot glass. The other side of the room was much louder, and it seemed to be centered on one table. Ignoring it, she continued to drink. It wasn't until an hour later did she figure out who the ring leaders were.

"Alright ninja pals! I ain't gonna… um ain't gonna sing, but that lovely lady will!"

Bringing you back to the present, Naruto held onto the microphone stand for support as he pointed at Kurenai, who looked completely caught off guard. Staggering off the stage, Naruto grabbed Kurenai's hand and hauled her on stage. Her eyes slid to the crowded table, and almost fell over in surprise when she saw Shikamaru and that sand kid who had somehow made Kage in the last year.

"Shikamaru? What are you doing here?"

His hair tie was slightly loose, letting a few strands fall out of their usually neat position. As she addressed him, a huge smile spread across his face, and after getting his balance, he jumped onto the stage to join them.

"So glad that… you joined us!"

She was caught in a hug between the two boys, and was promptly handed another bottle of sake from Naruto. At that point she knew that she wasn't getting out of this, so shrugging her shoulders, she downed the bottle. And that was only the start of the night.

By twelve o clock, one fourth of the ninja populace were crammed inside the bar. Naruto was trying to sing something or other before throwing the microphone to a random Chunin in the crowd. Gaara was mingling in a group of people, his uptight/serious façade slightly melting away, and Shikamaru was experimenting with some lime and a drink, while all this was happening. They didn't know and only partly recognized most of the people in the pub, which was odd. But then again, all three boys had never really been the drinking type until their later years. (Very few of their friends were, too) Besides Kurenai, there was Izumo who was oddly without his partner… who he couldn't recall the name of.

"Hey, Nara! Whatcha up to?"

Izumo staggered his way over to the chair next to Shikamaru and sluggishly pulled himself up into a semi- sitting position. He ordered another drink, and took a huge swig before turning back to Shikamaru.

"Aren't ya kinda young ta be 'ere?"

"Nahh _hiccup _I'm… twenty twoo!"

Both of them were silent for a second before busting into loud uncontrolled laughter.

"Hey, hey… Izumo? Can ya keep a tiny _hiccup_ secret?"

Izumo nodded before leaning in excitedly. After all, who didn't love a good secret?

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><p>Wow, that was harder to write than I thought. It's funny because I tried writing this chapter about a week and a half ago, but I kept on changing it. Why does this story have to be so frickin hard? Anyway, I'm sorry for the unbelievable wait.<p>

Chapter Eleven: The New Guys?


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: The New Guys?

After looking over the entire review box, I realized that I've only gotten five bad reviews and it barely had to do about my writing _style._ A was a little miffed that most of it was about the yaoi- I had a warning in the first chapter- but I kind of expected as much. I think this would be my longest chapter so far. I probably should have split it in half to get me more reviews, but I just wanted to get it all in so bad (stop laughing because I know what ¼ of you are thinking…) On to my longest chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does… But if I did own it, that would be really cool. I own all OC mentioned in the story though! Enjoy ^_^v

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><p>If Izumo had been told earlier that he would someday thank his father for passing down the <em>remember-everything-after-a-drinking-night<em> gene, then he would have laughed his ass off, called them an idiot and then continue to tell the story to his best friend Kotetsu. But that was then and this was now. After waking up with a splitting headache, and not knowing where exactly he was, (some random bench) he staggered back home just in time to beat the morning crowd. Looking at the wall clock he had hanging across from his bed, Izumo sighed in relief. He still had four hours until his shift at the gate started, and then later that day he had to organize some papers in the Jounin lounge. Overall he was pretty thankful that he didn't have a mission today. Closing his eyes, Izumo tried to ignore the pounding feeling in his head, and the queasiness in his stomach. Flashes of last night flitted through his head while he dozed off, but an hour later he was still unable to get any sleep. Sighing in dejection, Izumo decided that he would probably feel a whole lot better after a cold shower. Turning the knob, he jumped in and enjoyed the nice cool feeling. It wasn't long before his mind started to clear up, and the sickness ebbed away.

"_Hey, hey… Izumo? Can ya keep a tiny secret?"_

His eyes shot back open as the memory crossed his mind. Thinking harder about what happened after, Izumo slowly turned the shower head to the off notch and crawled out.

"No way… who would have thought?"

Izumo mulled about whether or not he should keep it a secret, but he found himself wanting to tell someone the more he thought about it. And when Shikamaru asked if he could keep a secret, he never said that he could; he merely listened and nodded. So in the long run, that meant he definitely wouldn't have a guilty conscious at the end of the day. Happily coming to a conclusion, Izumo swiftly pulled on some clothes, and checked the time again. He would still be early, but if he remembered correctly, Kotetsu probably was already up flirting with the new female Chunin in the Mission Room. Checking that he had all the supplies with him, Izumo sauntered out of his apartment and skipped from roof top to roof top. It wasn't every day you find our something like _this_, and who would he be if he denied the public of a nice juicy piece of gossip. And as he walked into the fairly empty office room, and waved Kotetsu over, for the first time in his life he thanked his dad for that particular bit of genes he passed on to him.

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><p>"Kotetsu, you would not believe what I heard last night at that new bar…"<p>

"Well, I never really had a problem with it, but seeing that you aren't lying on the ground in total pain does clear up a lot."

Shikamaru, Gaara and Naruto were sitting at the back of Konoha's public library, several piles of books and scrolls surrounding them. Waking up early in the morning without even having a small twinge of a migraine or touch of nausea was a peculiar spectacle, but it definitely got their interest. As they sat together, they pondered how this could be remotely possible considering all three were far from sober the previous night. After much thought, Shikamaru brought up the possibility that the mark had to do something about that. Slightly surprised that his two friends were already partly aware of the marks in their backs, Gaara started to explain the other reason he came to Konoha. He described to Naruto and Shikamaru his discovery of the activation of the seal, and his theories so far on affects, but justified that he did not have enough information in Suna to work out the rest. From what they could tell from Shikamaru's incident in the ANBU headquarter chamber, and their lack of illness after the previous night, it wasn't hard for all three makes to figure it out. While the symbols didn't give them any special powers, it did however make the body physically and mentally stronger in some ways. Gaara concluded that the symbol was somehow making them resistant to foreign substances, like poisons, serums and alcohol. Whether that meant they would never be able to get sick or hung over ever again, they didn't know, at the moment the real concern was what else would the vine like marks do to them? And that lead them to library.

"Gaara, go check out that scroll over there. That's the scroll that will answer all our questions!" Naruto said enthusiastically.

Gaara sighed in exasperation before shaking his head. "Naruto, you told me to look at that scroll three times before. It's not even close."

Naruto crossed his arms before his head dropped down to his chest. He briefly wondered if there was a Jutsu that automatically found the subject you wanted, like a link to link from your mind to the library, but went back to the two scrolls he was looking at when Shikamaru walked in with four new ones. Most of the books and scrolls only had one line in them that vaguely had any relevance to their research, but it was important that they tried to pick up as much as they could while there was still time… and less people in the library. It wouldn't do to have people looking over their shoulders and asking questions. Gaara opened up another book, just finishing reading a short novel about gods and their powers, which hardly helped at all.

"Shikamaru, go to the store across from the library. It's urgent." Gaara said. The red head didn't even looking up from the dusty book and continuing to flip through another. He heard a bit of shuffling before the tired looking boy peaked over a tall stack of papers. "What's so important that's next door?" Leaning in his chair to get a better view out of the window across the room, he saw a bright little store parallel to the library.

"Pocky. I'm starving and we didn't have breakfast so go get some. And you have to go get it because I'm a Kage and Naruto is currently poor."

Naruto gave a cry of protest before sourly settling back in his little corner surrounded by his new stacks to read through. Shikamaru shook his head in disbelief before running across the street to grab a box. Entering the story, he walked through the aisles slowly, taking his time just to annoy his red-haired friend. And while he was here it wouldn't hurt to take something for Naruto and himself, too. It had been a while since he'd gotten the former Hokage something. Nose twitching at all the smells wafting in the small shop, Shikamaru decided that maybe a whole bag of stuff would not be a bad idea. In fact, it'll prevent him from having to go back for more if they finished off the treats, and going back would just be too troublesome. Slipping a whole bunch of stuff into the bag, that he noted would most likely go unnoticed by the librarians, Shikamaru finally looked up to see five people openly _staring_ at him. Slowly looking down at himself and checking for something out of place, Shikamaru shot them a few annoyed and questioning looks. Walking a bit faster to the cashier, Shikamaru placed the items on the counter and leaned in. "I don't mean to bother you, sir but do you know why I'm being stared at?"

The man behind the counter chuckled nervously before shrugging. "I can't say that I do know." The middle- aged man sat down in the high stool behind him, and started to count the money to be paid. After a few minutes, the man summed up the total, bagged the items again, and collected the money. Giving Shikamaru a small smile, he waved goodbye to him as Shikamaru walked out the door. "Have a nice gay… day! I mean have a very nice day!"

Shikamaru chuckled at the mistake going across the street. That must have been one embarrassing slip up… "Wait a minute."

Shikamaru paused on the last step of the stairs leading to the entrance of the library. Looking back behind him, he noticed he dropped a box, and went back to get it, all the while having no idea why everyone found him so fascinating today. Easily sneaking past the library receptionist, Shikamaru walked towards the back of the room where Gaara and Naruto were. Turning a corner, he had to duck and catch an airborne scroll flying in his direction. Gaara and Naruto had their hands extended out, one fingering a scissor and the other a rock. They snapped their heads in his direction, but before a single sound could even get past Naruto's lips Shikamaru stopped him. "Whatever it is, I'd rather be here in the library continuing the research."

"Well, fine than. I guess I can handle it by myself."

Setting the bag of goods on the table, Shikamaru let Gaara answer his unsaid question. "Naruto and I were seeing who would travel out of the village to meet Itachi. I've not met him in this timeline yet, so even if I didn't win, I would have made one of you go."

Nodding in understanding, Shikamaru chewed on a candy while absentmindedly flipping through yet another set of papers. "I think what we're looking for isn't in a public library. Maybe we should try the village's restricted reading. You know the archives in the mountain. I mean that even holds information on Akatsuki; it must have something on what we're looking for, right?"

Naruto sighed in relief at not having to spend any more time in the dusty closed corner. The Konoha archives were a lot more organized, and it was easier to find certain scrolls, but only certain ninja were allowed in the room. "Yeah, but how are we supposed to do that? I refuse to risk uncovering ourselves by stealing classified documents, and Gaara isn't buddy buddy enough with Tsunade to even get near the area that leads to the archives."

Shikamaru clasped his hands together in thought. There were only a few other ways to get in to the restricted room, and most of them were way too risky. Tapping his fingers against the table surface, Shikamaru bounced several ideas off them. Most of them would either take too long, or depended too much on chance, but his last idea didn't sound that bad. In fact, it sounded like it would solve a lot more than just their information problem.

"You can always join ANBU. That way we can have access to the library. And not only that, but if we play our cards right, you'd somehow climb higher in the ranks, and teach our fellow comrades a thing or two. It's the perfect way to train _and_ still be undercover."

Naruto only needed a moment before all the dots started connecting. "Yeah! We can convince Kakashi to rejoin ANBU as a captain so when I join, he can make me a part of his cell! That way no one else will have to see what's under the mask."

"And what about Sakura and Sasuke? You can hardly just leave them without a teacher." Gaara argued. It wasn't that he was disagreeing, but paying attention to detail was important, especially when one wrong move could trigger a domino effect.

"No problem. Sakura is practically Tsunade's apprentice already, and Sasuke… well Jiraiya technically doesn't need to teach me much anymore, and it would do Sasuke some good to be taught by someone who didn't loath the place we're trying to protect. "

Shikamaru's shoulders shook from laughter, trying to calm himself before someone came over. "Two things, love. One, how will you get Jiraiya to take on Sasuke as an apprentice? Wasn't the only reason he agreed to train you was because you were his godson? And second, I highly doubt that the Uchiha will be able to handle more than a few hours from him. You've got Jiraiya that practically needs to be surrounded my women twenty four seven and Sasuke who, I personally think, is sexually frigid."

Naruto's face scrunched up, obviously a bit frustrated about the new revelation, but like always, Naruto had a solution to the problem.

"Well, seeing as I somehow steered the pervy sage to taking me on as an apprentice because I'm his godson, I'll use that to get him to teach Sasuke… and maybe I'll bribe him, too. And Sasuke, well Sasuke can suck it up."

All of them content on Naruto's solution, they started to get out of their seats. Piling up all the scrolls and stuffing them back on to the shelves, Gaara excused himself to go to a meeting with Tsunade and the council, but not before quickly seizing the bag of goods and taking it with him. Since he wasn't a Chunin in this timeline yet, Shikamaru still had to go off and join his team for regular afternoon training sessions. And seeing as Naruto's team was off doing their own thing, and he had nothing better to do, Naruto decided it was about time to work his magic on one Itachi Uchiha. There was always something to do.

* * *

><p>He hated to admit it, but as much as Sasuke would somehow always be a dear friend of his, Naruto-during the later years- had imagined that he and Itachi would easily become fast friends. Despite killing his own clan (even if it was for the greater good) and also joining a group of psychopaths (also for the greater good), Naruto had somehow gotten it in his head that Itachi probably was just one of those guys that just wanted to spend his days drinking tea and looking at cherry blossoms. Even with his vast skill as a shinobi, Itachi just made Naruto think of peace and quiet. It was weird and confusing because as far as what Naruto had heard about the intense Uchiha, he hardly sounded like the kind of guy who wanted to just sit around and look at the sky. Then again, everyone else, besides a handful of people, thought that Itachi Uchiha had killed his own clan out of madness and lust for blood. Now that he thought about it, Naruto had seen Itachi in a tea shop more times than he saw the powerful shinobi fighting. Naruto had no doubt that Itachi did a lot of the latter, but before they time travelled, Naruto had only seen Itachi a few times, and most of those times barely lasted up to an hour. You could say you knew someone if you'd only seen them a few hours in your whole life, and only heard from word of mouth.<p>

Naruto ran to a nearby town called Akitaro. He would have told the Uchiha to meet him in Gantona since it was closer to the village, but that town was said to be a complete rumor mill. So avoiding that town would be the best option in this case.

Walking into a dango shop near the edge of town, Naruto pulled his hood up a little more before searching for the familiar figure at the back. Naruto wasn't surprised to see Itachi sitting in the back by a window. He was wearing the usual Akatsuki cloak, and the sugegasa (sedge hat) obscuring his face. His cloak was partly unbuttoned where his left hand was resting, and his right hand was loosely holding the green tea cup. In short, Itachi Uchiha looked as handsome and intimidating as ever. Naruto immediately approached, fully aware that Itachi probably had known he was there since before he entered the shop.

"Thank you for assisting us these past few weeks, and meeting me here. I know it must be exceedingly difficult with a partner like Kisame."

Not bothering to answer, Itachi only nodded to at least reassure Naruto that he was listening. Although Itachi didn't show it, he was hesitant to be in this position. This boy seemingly knew so much, and the lack of knowing on his end made Itachi more cautious than usual. Itachi sat back in his chair, his grayish colored eyes, for once not in their usual Sharingan state, searching Naruto's blue ones. He then let his eyes give Naruto a once over before speaking.

"You've grown quite a bit, Naruto."

Naruto thanked him, and sat himself down across from the elder Uchiha brother. Itachi waved his hand to the steaming pot of tea in the middle of the table, asking him if he would care to have some. Seeing the opening, nodded his head in agreement and poured himself a cup. The taste was a little too sweet for his liking, but he drank it anyway. Leaning forward and placing his elbows in the wooden table, Naruto gave a tired sigh.

"Well, I'm going to get straight to the point. For reasons classified, we already have all the information we need on Akatsuki. That being so…"At this Naruto sat up taller before continuing, "It would be more beneficial for you to work closer to us."

Yes, when Naruto said he wasn't going to beat around the bush, he meant it. But that still didn't mean he wasn't going to be careful with his words. Just plain saying to Itachi _'Come back to Konoha with me'_ would definitely not work. Plus Naruto already knew the answer to that statement, so maybe rewording it and then making it sound a little more professional would suit the older Uchiha better. Itachi looked as if he was about to sigh, but held it in. But Naruto did notice the slight twitch on the edge of his brow.

"Your kind of persistence is both endearing and irritating. I don't think so, Naruto."

"I'm flattered. What if I told you that you could be in the village and not be seen?"

Calmly pouring himself another cup of tea, Itachi didn't even bother to look back up in favor of staring out the window. Itachi knew what the demon container was getting at, and it wasn't something he wanted to get involved with. "Joining ANBU again is too troublesome. I don't take orders from the _higher _ups of the village, anymore. I'm sure you understand."

"Yes, I do understand. By the way, Sasuke is doing a lot better. He's acting a bit more mature as of late. He's still an ass, but not a total one."

Itachi was a bit thrown off that Naruto would so casually bring up Sasuke in the conversation, but remembered that he was fully aware of the circumstances of the massacre a few years back. Lacing his fingers together, and resting his chin on top, he gave Naruto a small smirk, not unlike what Sasuke did on many occasions.

"Is he now? My foolish brother is finally growing up. He was always such a needy boy." Itachi couldn't quite understand why it was so easy to talk to Naruto, even about Sasuke. Maybe it was the fact that he knew the truth and didn't judge Itachi for his choice? But then again, Itachi had an odd feeling that Naruto was much older than he looked or at least more mature for his age much like he was. Exchanging a few more words between each other, they finished the tea.

Naruto was surprised that he had momentarily forgotten the reason he had come to the town to meet Itachi in the first place, but he had expected as much from Itachi, who was most likely purposefully steering the conversation as far away from the ANBU/ village subject. But years of being a leader and the person everyone looked to in times of need had instilled a permanent habit of making more than just a plan A, B and C. From what he had gathered from meeting with Itachi, it was that the man was a very complicated being who wasn't seeking anything complicated. Paying for the tea, they both walked out of the shop, taking their time walking through a more secluded area of Akitaro. Touching a scar that had started to appear on his left hand, Naruto let the conversation go for a few minutes. It was when they got to the edge of town did Naruto bring it up again.

"Alright, so you don't want to take orders from the councilmen. What about the section in ANBU that follows under jurisdiction of Ibiki Morino. I hear that unless it's a direct order from the Hokage, or Ibiki you can't be ordered to do something you don't want to do. They pretty much keep to themselves."

"And who would be our Captain. From what I can recall, there are only two ways to be accepted. I don't think I would quite get a recommendation, and unless you know meeting short and leave it with a no."

Naruto smirked at that. Although he hadn't quite gotten around to asking Kakashi to do it, he was sure that as a dedicated shinobi of the village, he would join anyway.

"I've got that covered."

"And before I agree to this, you _will_ explain to me in full detail what is going to happen and what you know. I have tolerated my lack of knowledge in your plans and how you know so much only because I had distance and free reign. I will _not_ enter the village without knowing all the cards in your, and soon to be, my hand."

Naruto's eyes sharpened, and was about to protest, but then sighed in defeat. Itachi would be just as involved in their plans as Shikamaru, Gaara and Kakashi, and he deserved to know just as much. Nodding his head hesitantly, agreed to Itachi's proposition. Besides, if anyone could keep a secret, it was Itachi Uchiha.

* * *

><p>"Well this is unexpected." Kakashi said flatly.<p>

When Naruto had confronted him about his plan, he had been actually happy to assist. He actually really wanted to join ANBU again. It was a common mistake, but yes, ANBU were normal people, and Kakashi had come to make a good amount of friends in the business… even if he didn't know who they were. But that was somewhat the beauty of it. No one judged you on your looks or previous status, and it made many ANBU become a lot closer than normal shinobi. Many of the people he had talked to about ANBU (who weren't in ANBU themselves but just curious individuals) had thought that members were mostly loners that kept to themselves. Kakashi never corrected them, but most black ops only estranged themselves from ninja who didn't wear a mask. He always laughed when he stepped back and realized that when you looked into the ANBU HQ lounge, they all looked like members of one large dysfunctional family.

It wasn't hard for Kakashi to get Tsunade to take Sakura as a permanent apprentice, but from what he heard from Naruto, who came to him sporting a few bruises, he had a hard time pushing Jiraiya to take Sasuke as a student, and an equally as hard challenge to get Sasuke to also agree. But somehow he managed. So when he sent his form in to Tsunade, and forged and made two new forms for Shikamaru and Naruto, he was greatly surprised to see that it wasn't Shikamaru who was their third member of the team. Standing right in front of him was none other than Itachi Uchiha.

Kakashi knew the real reason that his former, and now present, comrade had done the things he did, but that didn't make it any less awkward. Kakashi couldn't decide whether he should acknowledge the man as a hero for saving Konoha from a war or a monster for killing his family… minus Sasuke. So in the end, the masked ninja decided not to think about it, and let things be at the moment.

So in a twisted turn of events, Naruto had somehow gotten Jiraiya to leave the village with Sasuke for training, make everyone believe that he was also with them (minus Gaara, Kakashi, Itachi and Shikamaru who knew the truth and Jiraiya/ Sasuke who would be blissfully unaware for the next few months) join ANBU, convince Itachi Uchiha to come with him, and coax the Kyuubi into making him three inches taller over night… all in less than four days. If someone had asked him if he thought that Naruto could someday become Hokage, he had no doubt in his mind what he would say. _Hell fucking yeah…_

"So you're new the members. I gotta say man, I was surprised enough to hear that Wolf was back, but bringing two new recruits? I'm Rabbit by the way…"

Naruto and Itachi stood awkwardly in front of a table seating five ANBU playing a game of cards, and were currently sporting masks, and the traditional white and black uniform. After a bit of debate, Itachi had taken a mask that looked like a bird and snatched up a new headband, while Naruto had grabbed a mask off the rack that looked like a cat, which was completely random on his part.

"I'm Cat and this is Raven. Mind if we sit in?"

Silently waving them down into two of the three empty seats, Rabbit introduced them to the other members seated at the table, and then redistributed the cards. Itachi hesitantly grabbed the pile passed out to him and shuffled them into his hand. He felt strange being back, and surrounded by people who's intentions of killing were only to serve the village and not for pleasure. Stepping back for a moment, Itachi silently laughed at the situation. He had fully intended to spend his life on the run until Sasuke found him and would then kill him to avenge the clan. Then he would die, dragging the secret to the grave. He never thought that he would be in Konoha, as a member again, and playing cards with people who probably, if they knew who was behind the mask, would want to kill him. He would never admit this to anyone, but for the first time in many years, Itachi felt a small twinge of content.

Naruto's eyes roamed over to Itachi's still form, watching as his figure slowly started to relax. Smirking under his newly acquired mask, Naruto looked back at his cards.

_Mission complete. _"Hit me."

* * *

><p>My fingers were flying the whole time I wrote this chapter. I lot happened after all. So this is an important question… I haven't read the entire story so far as a whole, but I'm pretty sure that there is a huge gap in the mood of the story. In the beginning I started out pretty gloomy, and after some advise, I kind of switched it up into a lighter note. Do you think I should rework the beginning a bit, or do you think the transition fits the story from bad times to good times? Let me know what you think!<p>

Review!


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: One of Those Days

So I don't know if any of you authors out there have ever checked, but I was recently looking at my number of hits I get a chapter, and I felt a little… Sasuke-ish… when I found out that after every chapter less and less people read. Like literally from the first to the second chapter it's cut by a little more than half and after that it goes down by half again. The rest of the chapters go down by about two hundred. But in the end I just told myself it doesn't matter because I've got reviewers, and I'm not a terrible writer. And believe me I know terrible. You'd be amazed at some of the bad writing a I have read from classmates at school during the year… you'd think a bunch of honor students would be able to write a little better, you know? I end my rant.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does… But if I did own it that would be really cool. I own all OC mentioned in the story though! Enjoy ^_^v

* * *

><p>"You talk to him."<p>

"What! No, he's your son."

"Shikaku I swear on my life you'll sleep on the couch for a week if you don't do it."

Shikaku sighed heavily as his wife, Yoshino, pointed towards the slide door. He really didn't want to do this. It was way too much work, but then again, he'd have a legitimate reason to go out drinking. Nodding his head at the plan already formed in his head, Shikaku walked into the next room where Shikamaru was working with the red-haired Kazekage. That shock had already worn off days ago that his son was somewhat close to such a highly ranked figure, but when the Nara caught whiff of a certain rumor… well he didn't think too much about it, but his wife was hell bent on knowing what was going on. And Yoshino was a troublesome woman when she didn't get her answers; almost as much as Inoichi's wife.

Walking into the room, he was just in time to see Shikamaru close the back door behind him; the Kazekage's, Gaara Sabaku, shadow just barely seen exiting the house before completely disappearing. Shikaku beckoned Shikamaru over, placing his hand on top of Shikamaru's head and softly ruffling it. His son swatted it away, but both of them knew he didn't mind as much as he showed. Seeing as Shikaku didn't want this conversation to drag on for hours like most of their father son talks, Shikaku decided not to pull out the Shogi board. Sitting cross legged, Shikaku and Shikamaru sat on the porch overlooking one of their numerous gardens, but this one had a small pond.

Clearing his throat, he kept his face completely emotionless as usual, but if you looked slightly closer, you could see a slight tinge of red forming on the top of his ears.

"You've been busy."

"Mhmh. I overheard Lady Tsunade saying she was thinking about promoting me to Chunin."

The Shinobi Exams (Chunin, Jounin etc.) were not the only way for someone to advance in rank. If that were so, then there would be a lot more ninja lined up at each event. Some villages, like the Leaf, sometimes advance several ninja up a rank if they show enough skill. But that usually only occurs between Genin and Chunin. It's pretty much unheard of for a Chunin to advance to Jounin without taking the Exam, but there have been cases of Chunin being moved up to Special Jounin. Strangely enough, this usually only happened when Ibiki Morino was looking for another person to work in T&I. He liked them fresh, after all.

Both males lapsed into another moment of silence, with Shikamaru leaning on one hand wondering what was going on, and Shikaku trying to figure out how to start this conversation. He wasn't used to this sort of situation since Yoshino had always handled this kind of stuff. And when he meant 'this kind of stuff' he meant puberty, girls and safety. He always got off easy with speeches concerning weapons, respect and teammates. Sighing once more, he held up his hands in a _don't-freak-out-when-I-start-talking_ kind of way.

"Look, Shikamaru. I think you're entitled to your own life, but your mother is a bit… curious. There's been word going around about your… preferences, and she wanted to know if it was true."

Shikamaru flushed bright red, coughing into his hand from the awkward atmosphere. How that got around, he had no idea. The only people that knew about that were there the day of the Chunin Exam and if they really wanted to tell people, they would have said something months ago. But Shikamaru knew that they wouldn't have said anything because everyone there was a Jounin or higher, and they would want to draw unnecessary attention to the person they were investigating. (No doubt after several months he was still being watched carefully) Shikamaru was brought out of his thoughts when his dad starting talking again. He must have taken Shikamaru's silence for embarrassment.

"There's nothing wrong with that. We won't love you any less. Though your mother might be troublesome for some time about not having grand kids."

Shikamaru, for one of the few times in his life, didn't know exactly what to say to that. He did not, could not believe that this conversation (although mostly one sided) was happening. Then again he never really imagined that anyone would find out. He always assumed that it would stay a secret for a long long time. (beside the few that already knew or saw them after they killed Orochimaru) And the surprises didn't even end there. If Shikamaru was told at that point that they really didn't go back in time, and this was just some weird side dimension where everything was completely out of sorts… he'd believe it. (He's turning into Naruto lol)

"Don't tell your mother this, but back during the Third Shinobi War we were away from home a lot, not knowing when we would come home or if we would ever see our loved ones again. It was after a particularly brutal battle that we a good hundred of us were sitting in a huge ditch while it was raining. We were all sure we were going to die if another wave of the enemy came by. Luckily the Fourth Hokage and reinforcements came just in time, but the week that we were waiting… well things happen."

It didn't take much for Shikamaru to connect the dots, and although the story was meant to be serious, Shikamaru had to hold back a snort that was trying to force his way out.

"Inoichi."

Shikaku's brow twitched at how fast Shikamaru was able to figure it out. It wasn't even a question, but more like a statement. Sighing again, he muttered a troublesome and got out of the sitting position he was in.

"You get the idea. My work here is done. Tell your mother I'll be back later today."

Shikaku said that as quickly as possible, and then slouched through the house and out of the door. He wasn't surprised to see Inoichi and Chouza standing outside the front entrance ready to knock.

"Our wives sent us. They want to know if…"

"Yeah. Now let's go. I need a drink."

Inoichi, who was smiling mischievously, elbowed Shikaku in the ribs.

"I knew one of these days a Nara would think women were _too_ troublesome."

Shikaku only sighed, and then scratched his head in irritation.

"I don't really care either way, but Yoshino does, and now she'll want to know who it is. And guess who's job that is?"

Chouza and Inoichi slouched alongside Shikaku as they walked to the nearest bar. "Ours."

* * *

><p>In the blink of an eye, Naruto ducked out of the way of a blood stained sword just as it tried to cut his head off. Somersaulting back a few feet, he swiftly let loose a few kunai from the confines of his arm guards. They spiraled towards the enemy ninja, but he was quick to leap in to the air. Smirking wildly at him, the enemy ninja laughed victoriously as he watched the three kunai pass right under him. But unfortunately for him, he would never see the kunai hit the tree on the other side of the forest clearing as his throat was slit open.<p>

The cut was clean and precise, and nothing less than Itachi's best. It never mattered to him whether or not it was the strongest or weakest person, he abhorred laziness and that included sloppiness. Not even watching as the man fell to the ground lifeless, Itachi cleaned the blood off his sword and placed it back in its holster. He turned around to see Naruto light the man on fire to cover their tracks. Once the man was only a pile of ash, Naruto fixed the mask over his face and joined Itachi, who was leaning against the tree where his three kunai were embedded. Plucking them out for him, Itachi flicked them towards Naruto, who promptly caught them and stuffed the three weapons back under his arm guard. Passing by the pile of ashes, Itachi quickly formed a hand seal, and the ground under the ashes shifted to where the remains were sucked underground. They both gave the area a once over to check for anything left behind, and then left to go back to the campsite. Kakashi was most likely still at the castle talking to the feudal lord who had stolen a necklace from their employer, and then set the guards and ninja on them. They really didn't have to worry about him considering the there were no traps set in the castle, and the guards really were no match for the Copy Ninja.

Making their way back to the campsite, they jumped higher into the trees until they found the area where they had set their supplies. Naruto hadn't been in ANBU in his past life, but back during the war, they all had been paranoid enough to sleep up in trees instead of the ground. It was also a lot easier to sense someone from up in a tree because you had more range. Scooting closer to the base of the tree, Naruto took off his mask and hooked it to his waist. Leaning his head back, he cracked his knees and back which were still trying to get used to the extra few inches he grew. They wouldn't be there long, since Kakashi would probably be back within the hour, but Naruto saw no need in not getting a little comfortable. His eyes were half mast (but still held a gleam of awareness in them) as he watched Itachi take his own mask off, and straddle the branch across from him. They both sat there in silence for a bit before Naruto decided to break in a conversation.

"You know, back before Sasuke left for Orochimaru, I had this whole image in my mind set up on how I wanted my life to work out. I always thought to myself that Sasuke and I would become Chunin and Jounin at the same time, and then a few months before I became Hokage, we would work together in ANBU. I find it exceedingly ironic that the man I end up working with is you, Itachi. No offense of course. Hey, what did you do to your partner Kisame, anyway?"

Itachi nodded in recognition, before retying his hair. "None taken considering I'm to be eternally grateful to you."

Naruto cocked his head to the side, twiddling with a loose string at the end of his black gloved hands. "How so?"

"I hadn't expected my plan to go wrong, and with your memories, the world can be better." ('My plan' is referring to Sasuke killing him and both of them finding peace)

"And it was a bit of trouble, but let's hope a fisherman is smart enough not to make blue sushi." Naruto laughed at the implication, happy that Itachi wasn't like Sasuke. In other words a complete prick most the time. Naruto would never say this to anyone, but Itachi was one of the best teammates he'd ever thought he'd have, and they'd only been working together for close to a month. It was silent again as Naruto and Itachi both watched the moon. Itachi glanced over at Naruto who looked like he was meaning to ask something, but wouldn't say it.

"You are restless."

Naruto nodded at Itachi's statement. He rolled a poisonous senbon between his fingers; not that worried if the end of the weapon pricked him.

"Did you… regret killing your family?"

Itachi remained relaxed as ever, probably expecting such a question to be asked. He gave a breathy hum like sigh before facing away from the moon. His face was half cast in shadows and it took a lot of will power not to look away from Itachi. It pained Naruto to see him; and in a way, Naruto was sure that if they had gone back in time when Itachi was thirteen, he still would have fit perfectly amongst the haunted eyes and powerful frames that he, Shikamaru and Gaara held.

"Sometimes I feel like I should have never done it, but someone had to. From your memories, I saw that I prevented the Fourth Shinobi War from occurring a good decade early. But I regret… my mother and Shisui."

"I'd like to think that no matter what you do, your best friend and the ones closest to you find it in their hearts to forgive. If only but a little."

"Wouldn't we all like to believe such a thing."

"If it's any conciliation, there was a girl we captured right as the war was declared… Karin. She was an old teammate joined with Sasuke. She said he cried when he found out your true intentions. Last time she saw him sane, she said."

Itachi laughed inconsolably. "I don't know whether to be flattered or bitter that the last thing a sane Sasuke thought about was me before he became nothing more than a killer."

Naruto shrugged, unable to find words to comfort such thoughts. Looking in the opposite direction, Naruto got up and straightened his clothes; Kakashi was running their way.

"In any case, that won't happen this time. But it is too bad that _we'll_ be the ones to start the war this time."

With that hanging in the air, Naruto and Itachi readjusted their masks back onto their faces and disappeared into the night.

* * *

><p>Madara stood quietly on top of a high cliff close to Amegakure. It was cloudy, and he you practically smell another thunder storm coming. It would probably come in a few hours, but until then, he would sit outside and shuffle through thoughts. Orochimaru's death was quite inconvenient since the curse seal on Sasuke Uchiha would have been greatly beneficial for his manipulation of the boy in the future. He was curious though, he very well knew that the Sandiame was a formidable opponent, but he was old. And Orochimaru had learned quite a few more tricks since he left that disgusting village ages ago. If anything, Madara had expected the Third Hokage to at least die killing his former student. His orange mask was still firmly in place as he rubbed his eye threw the hole. Something was missing or somewhat off. He could feel an almost shift in the air, at that certain <em>something<em>, but he couldn't quite grasp it. And then there was the issue with one Itachi Uchiha. He took his eyes off Itachi for one moment and next thing he knew, he couldn't find Kisame and the black haired swine anyway. Technically he never really had to watch Itachi carefully because the man had his own agenda, which kept him in line for Madara most the time, but it never hurt to check on that conniving weasel. Madara Uchiha knew more than anyone else that trusting an Uchiha who isn't quite loyal to you is a dangerous game to play. He knew that Itachi would never go back to Konohagakure, and the last he heard of Kisame and Itachi, they were in Sand; they probably went to meet up with Sasori and Deidara. Now that he thought of it, it wasn't completely improbable that they got in a fight and something happened, but if anyone were to disappear if that were the case, it would be Sasori and Deidara; who really didn't fight on the same level as Itachi or Kisame. They were strong, but not strong enough to take down those two.

Zetsu was currently occupied, but if Madara really wanted him to come, he would. _But_ this was somewhat interesting, and he felt like investigating. It had been a while since he had actually done something without doing it through the Akatsuki first, and this would be the perfect chance to get his eyes back on the job. Cracking his neck, Madara took one more glance at the high tower where Pain and Konan were in, and headed off. He could leave those two alone for a bit. It wasn't like they would start their own revolution anyway. Jumping into the nearest tree, he set off towards Fire Country to find out what was really going on and where the two Akatsuki members had disappeared to.

* * *

><p>This will sound really random, but I've recently become obsessed with this series called Soul Eater. It's been a good year and a half since I've gotten this excited about a series, and when I went to check it out on , I was greatly astonished that it didn't have more stories. I expected it to be one of the top archives and yet I was bitch slapped with the results. Anyway, thank you for reading, reviewing and sending suggestions these past few months as I write this story for you. It is greatly appreciated.<p>

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